How to Find Volume in Kiloliters

Often students are asked to find the volume of a shape, then convert it to the metric system.

Finding and converting volumes can be challenging at first, but the process becomes much easier with practice. These conversions are even more difficult when one is asked to convert between U.S. or customary measurements and metric measurements. A common problem involves finding the volume of a shape using U.S. measurements, then having to convert it into some form of liters.

Instructions

1. Use the appropriate formula to find the volume of the particular shape you are assigned. For example, the volume of a cube = s^3, so if the length of the sides is 2 feet,the volume will be 2 feet x 2 feet x 2 feet, or 8 cubic feet.

2. Convert the volume to inches cubed. Multiply the number of feet cubed by 144. For the example, 8 cubic feet x 144 = 1,152 inches cubed.

3. Convert your inches cubed into cubic centimeters, by multiplying your inches cubed by 16.3870640693. In the example, 1,152 times 16.3870640683 equals about 18,877.898 cubic cm.

4. Change your units to milliliters since 1 cubic cm = 1 milliliter. So 18,877.898 cubic cm becomes 18,877.898 milliliters.

5. Convert your answer from milliliters to kiloliters (kL) by dividing your answer by 1,000,000 or by moving the decimal six places to the left. In the example 18,877.898 milliliters becomes 0.018877898, or 1.89 X 10^-2 kL.

Tips & Warnings

• Double-check all of your conversions before submitting your assignment.

References

• Convert Units: Convert In Cubed to Milliliters - Conversion of Measurment Units
• Vision Learning; The Metric System: Metric and Scientific Notation; Anthony Carpi; 2000