How to Convert the Metric System to US Liquid Measurements

Glass beakers are usually marked with metric units.

If you buy a bottled drink, you might notice the amount of the drink labeled in either standard American units or metric units. The use of the metric system has grown more common in most of the world due to the simple base-10 system of measurements. If you are more familiar with the American system of measurements, however, you may want to convert metric measures of liquid volume to American units for the purpose of comparison. The two most commonly used liquid volume units of measurement in the metric system are the liter and the milliliter.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator

Instructions

1. Convert liters to quarts by multiplying the number of liters by 1.057. Convert milliliters to quarts by multiplying the number of milliliters by 0.0011.

2. Convert from liters to gallons by multiplying the number of liters by 0.2642. If you're converting from milliliters to gallons, change the conversion factor to 0.0003.

3. Convert from liters to pints by multiplying the number of liters by 2.1133. To convert from milliliters to pints, multiply by 0.0021.

4. Convert from liters to cups by multiplying the number of liters by 4.2268. Convert from milliliters to cups by multiplying by 0.0042.

References

• National Institue of Standards and Technology: General Tables of Units of Measurement
• Colorado State University: Metric Usage and Metrication in Other Countries
• U.S. Geological Survey/Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington: Conversion Formulas