Volume Converter
Convert between litres, millilitres, cubic metres, US and UK gallons, fluid ounces, cups, pints, quarts, cubic feet, cubic inches, and more — 25 units, instant results.
All Unit Converters🍳 Cooking equivalents for your value
All conversions from 1 litre
| Unit | Symbol | System | Value |
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Volume Units — The Key Differences
The litre is the metric standard for everyday volume measurement. One litre equals one cubic decimetre (dm³) or 1000 cubic centimetres (cm³). All metric units are powers of 10 multiples.
The biggest source of confusion is the US vs UK gallon. A US gallon is 3.785 litres. A UK (imperial) gallon is 4.546 litres — about 20% larger. US fluid ounces and UK fluid ounces are also different, which affects recipes and medicine dosages.
Cooking measurements add another layer: US cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons follow specific ratios (1 cup = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp = 8 fl oz US). UK recipes often use weight rather than volume for dry ingredients.
25 units in 5 categories
US vs UK — the differences that trip people up
| Unit | US value | UK value | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fluid ounce | 29.574 mL | 28.413 mL | UK is ~4% smaller |
| Pint | 473.18 mL (16 fl oz) | 568.26 mL (20 fl oz) | UK is ~20% larger |
| Quart | 946.35 mL | 1136.52 mL | UK is ~20% larger |
| Gallon | 3785.41 mL | 4546.09 mL | UK is ~20% larger |
Volume reference values
Standard can of drink
330 mL in Europe; 355 mL (12 fl oz) in the US. A standard beer bottle is 500 mL.
Oil barrel
158.987 L = 42 US gallons. All global crude oil prices are quoted per barrel of this size.
Olympic swimming pool
2,500,000 L = 2500 m³. Pools are 50 m × 25 m × 2 m deep.
Cubic foot
28.317 L = 7.481 US gallons. Used in US natural gas billing and refrigerator sizing.
US tablespoon
14.787 mL = 3 teaspoons = 0.5 fl oz. UK tablespoon is 15 mL; Australian is 20 mL.
Earth’s oceans
1.335 × 10¹⁸ m³ = 1.335 × 10²¹ litres. The largest naturally occurring volume reference.
Common Questions
FAQ: Volume Converter
One US gallon equals exactly 3.785411784 litres. The UK (imperial) gallon is larger at exactly 4.54609 litres. This difference matters a lot for fuel economy comparisons between the US and UK — a car rated at 40 MPG in the UK would only be about 33 MPG in the US.
One US fluid ounce equals 29.5735 mL. One UK fluid ounce equals 28.4131 mL. They are close but not identical. Nutrition labels and medicine doses in the US always use the US fluid ounce. When a UK recipe lists fluid ounces, it means the slightly smaller UK value.
One US cup equals exactly 236.588 mL (commonly rounded to 240 mL on nutrition labels). A US cup is 16 US tablespoons, 48 US teaspoons, or 8 US fluid ounces. The metric cup (used in Australia and Canada) is 250 mL, which is about 5.5% larger than the US cup.
One cubic metre (m³) equals exactly 1000 litres. This follows directly from the definition: 1 litre = 1 cubic decimetre (dm³), and there are 1000 cubic decimetres in one cubic metre. Water density is approximately 1 kg per litre, so 1 m³ of water weighs 1000 kg (1 tonne).
In the US: exactly 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon = 14.787 mL. This ratio is consistent across UK and Australian measurements too, but the absolute size differs. A US tablespoon is 14.787 mL; a UK tablespoon is 15 mL; an Australian tablespoon is 20 mL. For international recipes, weigh dry ingredients instead.
One US oil barrel (bbl) equals exactly 42 US gallons = 158.987 litres. This is the standard unit for global crude oil trading. It was standardised in 1866 by Pennsylvania oil producers. When you see oil priced at “$80 per barrel”, that is 158.987 litres of crude.