Unit Conversion Software Web Widgets Loan Calculator Currency Rates Country Flags Unit Converter
Faq Help

Liter Conversion

Contact
No Ads

Liter, unit of measure

the common metric unit of volume. The liter was originally defined to be the volume occupied by a kilogram of water, and the gram as the mass of a cubic centimeter of water. This would make the liter equal to exactly one cubic decimeter, that is, to the volume of a cube 0.1 meter (or 10 centimeters) on a side. Unfortunately, the physical objects constructed to represent the meter and kilogram disagreed slightly. As measured by the standard meter and standard kilogram, the standard liter turned out to be about 1.000 028 cubic decimeters. This discrepancy plagued the metric system for a long time. In 1901 an international congress accepted the discrepancy and formally defined the liter to be exactly 1.000 028 dm^3. No one was particularly happy with such an awkward definition, and in 1964 the CGPM repealed the definition. In the SI, volumes are to be measured in cubic meters or power-of-ten multiples thereof, not in liters. However, the SI states that the liter "may be employed as a special name for the cubic decimeter." Throughout this dictionary, the liter is used as a name for exactly 1 cubic decimeter, 1000 cubic centimeters, or 0.001 cubic meter. In its renewed guise as the cubic decimeter, the liter is approximately 61.023 744 cubic inches. Compared to the customary volume units, the liter is a little more than a U. S. liquid quart (1.056 688 qt or 33.814 fluid ounces) but a little less than a U. S. dry quart (0.908 08 qt) or a British imperial quart (0.879 89 qt or 35.195 fluid ounces). Its name comes from a French volume unit, the litron, which was in turn derived from the Latin litra. Both the lower case letter l and the upper case L are accepted as symbols for the liter, but the U.S. Department of Commerce specifies that L be used, at least by businesses, to avoid confusion with the numeral 1. The unit is spelled liter in the U.S. and litre in Britain; there are many other spellings in various languages
To perform conversions between liter and other Capacity and Volume units please try our Capacity and Volume Unit Converter

Convert liter to:
cubic meter, cubic kilometer, cubic decimeter, cubic centimeter, cubic millimeter, exaliter, petaliter, teraliter, gigaliter, megaliter, kiloliter, hectoliter, dekaliter, deciliter, centiliter, milliliter, microliter, nanoliter, picoliter, femtoliter, attoliter, cc, drop, barrel (oil), barrel (US), barrel (UK), gallon (US), gallon (UK), quart (US), quart (UK), pint (US), pint (UK), cup (US), cup (metric), cup (UK), fluid ounce (US), fluid ounce (UK), tablespoon (US), tablespoon (metric), tablespoon (UK), dessertspoon (US), dessertspoon (UK), teaspoon (US), teaspoon (metric), teaspoon (UK), gill (US), gill (UK), minim (US), minim (UK), cubic mile, cubic yard, cubic foot, cubic inch, ton register, ccf, hundred-cubic foot, acre-foot, acre-foot (US survey), acre-inch, dekastere, stere, decistere, cord, tun, hogshead, board foot, dram, cor (Biblical), homer (Biblical), bath (Biblical), hin (Biblical), cab (Biblical), log (Biblical), Taza (Spanish), Earth's volume

Download Capacity and Volume Unit Converter
our powerful software utility that helps you make easy conversion between more than 2,100 various units of measure in more than 70 categories. Discover a universal assistant for all of your unit conversion needs - download the free demo version right away!
Instantly add a free Capacity and Volume Converter Widget to your website
It will take less than a minute, is as easy as cutting and pasting. The converter will blend seamlessly into your website since it is fully rebrandable.
Looking for an interactive
capacity and volume conversion table?
Visit our forum to discuss conversion
issues and ask for free help!
Try the instant categories & units search
it gives you results as you type!
Copyright © 1998-2009 UnitConversion.org