Volume Converter — Calculator

About volume conversions

Volume measures three-dimensional space. The metric units are powers of ten around the liter, and one milliliter is exactly one cubic centimeter — the same volume under two names, which is why engine displacement and medicine doses get quoted in both.

American and British liquid units share names but not sizes. A US gallon is 3.785411784 liters, an imperial gallon is 4.54609 liters — about 20% larger — and the same gap applies to pints and fluid ounces. Recipes, fuel figures and drink sizes should always say which system they use; this converter uses US units unless the label says imperial.

Fuel and bottled liquids (liters).
Cooking and recipes (milliliters, cups, fluid ounces).
Bulk water, concrete and gas (cubic meters or cubic feet).
Tanks, jerricans and storage containers (liters).

Reading the answers. US and imperial units are kept separate because they are genuinely different sizes. Confirm which system a source means before trusting a converted figure.

The units in this converter

What each unit is and where it is normally used. Everything here is converted through the liters.

Milliliters (mL): A milliliter is one thousandth of a liter, and exactly the same volume as one cubic centimeter. It is used for drinks, medicine doses and recipe quantities.
Liters (L): A liter is one thousandth of a cubic meter. It is the everyday metric unit for liquids — bottled water, fuel, milk and cooking oil.
Cubic meters (m³): A cubic meter is 1,000 liters, and the volume of a cube one meter on each side. It is used for bulk water, concrete and sand, and for shipping volume.
Cubic centimeters (cm³): A cubic centimeter equals one milliliter exactly. It is used for engine displacement, medicine doses and small solid volumes — a 1,500 cc engine displaces 1,500 of them.
Cubic inches (in³): A cubic inch is 16.387064 milliliters. It is used for engine displacement in the United States and for small volumes in imperial engineering.
Cubic feet (ft³): A cubic foot is 28.316846592 liters, and the volume of a cube one foot on each side. It is used for gas meters, freight and the capacity of appliances and containers.
US gallons (gal): A US gallon is 3.785411784 liters, defined as 231 cubic inches. It is the standard liquid and fuel unit in the United States, and is about 20% smaller than an imperial gallon.
US quarts (qt): A US quart is a quarter of a US gallon, or 0.946352946 liters. It is used for milk, oil and other liquids in the United States.
US pints (pt): A US pint is half a US quart, or 0.473176473 liters. A UK or imperial pint is larger, at 0.56826125 liters, which is why the same drink measures differently in each country.
US fluid ounces (fl oz): A US fluid ounce is 29.5735295625 milliliters, one sixteenth of a US pint. It is used for drinks, spirits and recipe measures in the United States.
Imperial gallons (imp gal): An imperial gallon is 4.54609 liters, about 20% more than a US gallon. It is the traditional UK and Commonwealth liquid unit, now largely replaced by liters.
US cups (cup): A US cup is 236.5882365 milliliters, or 8 US fluid ounces. It is the standard measure in American recipes; metric and Australian cups are 250 milliliters, so a recipe's cup depends on where it was written.

Tanzania reference points

Real quantities in volume, shown in the units people actually use.

The 20-litre bucket or canister used to carry water in Tanzania
20 L · 20,000 mL · 0.02 m³ · 20,000 cm³ · 1,220.474882 in³ · 0.706293 ft³ · 5.283441 gal · 21.133764 qt · 42.267528 pt · 676.280454 fl oz · 4.399385 imp gal · 84.535057 cup
WaterAid puts the minimum daily water need per person at 20 litres, so one container is roughly one person's daily requirement.
Source: IPS News — water access in Tanzania, citing WaterAid · verified 2026-09-14

Popular conversions

Liters to US gallons US gallons to Liters Milliliters to US fluid ounces US fluid ounces to Milliliters Liters to US cups US cups to Liters Cubic meters to Cubic feet Cubic feet to Cubic meters Liters to Milliliters

Convert from any volume unit

Each unit has its own page with every other unit in the dimension, the exact factor for each, and worked values.

Frequently asked questions

How many liters are in a US gallon?

One US gallon equals approximately 3.78541 liters.

How many milliliters are in a cup?

One US cup equals 236.5882365 milliliters.

What is the difference between US and imperial gallons?

A US gallon is about 3.785 liters, while an imperial gallon is about 4.546 liters.

How many gallons is a 20-litre container?

20 liters is about 5.28 US gallons, or about 4.40 imperial gallons. The 20-litre container is the standard water carrier in Tanzania, and it is roughly one person's minimum daily water need.

All volume conversions

Every volume conversion on Calculator, listed in full.