Sara’s father, Jack, was baking bread for her. Sara joined him on his cooking expedition. The recipe called for 320 ml water for 500 g flour. So, Jack grabbed a measuring jar to measure water for his dough.
Interestingly, Sara noticed something in the measuring jug. It had a few lines, and the last big line read “500 ml” (milliliter).
What Jack used was a milliliter measuring cup for measuring liquids in milliliters. Walk into your kitchen, and you might find something similar!
But what are milliliters? How can we use it to measure water? Let’s figure it out.
What Is a Milliliter (ml)?
Milliliter: Definition
A milliliter is a metric unit of volume equal to a thousandth of a liter.
How Much Is a Milliliter?
“Milli” comes from the Latin word “mille,” meaning one-thousandth. Therefore, a milliliter is one-thousandth of a liter or 0.001 liters. In other words, one liter $= 1000$ milliliters.
Metric System: A Brief Overview
The metric system is a system of units for measuring length, capacity/volume, and weight/mass based on three base units: meter (m), liter (l), and gram (g).
Most countries adopted metric units because of their uniformity throughout the world. For instance, the amount of water in a 500 ml bottle remains the same everywhere you go.
On the other hand, countries like the US still use customary weights and measures. However, they are space-sensitive and not uniform. Its measurement changes with the location. For instance, one cup is 236.58 ml in the US and 284.13 ml in the UK.
Milliliter Abbreviation
The milliliter symbol, abbreviation or SI symbol is “ml.”
Milliliter Examples
A few examples of milliliter in real life are:
Example 1: 500 ml tomato ketchup
Example 2: 750 ml cooking oil
Example 3: Bottles of hand sanitizer: 250 ml, 50 ml, and 20 ml
Milliliter and Other Units of Volume
In this section, we’ll see the relationship between milliliters and customary/metric units of volume.
Milliliter and Metric Units of Volume
The milliliter conversion chart given below summarizes the relationship between milliliters and metric units of volume.
How Much Is 1 Milliliter?
Milliliter and Centiliter
1 cl $= 1 \times 10$ ml $= 10$ ml
1 ml $= 0.1$ cl
Milliliter and Deciliter
1 dl $= 1 \times 10 \times 10$ ml $= 100$ ml
1 ml $= 0.01$ dl
Milliliter and Liter
1 l $= 1 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10$ ml $= 1000$ ml
1 ml $= 0.001$ l
Milliliter and Decaliter
1 dal $= 1 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10$ ml $= 10,000$ ml
1 ml $= 0.0001$ dal
Milliliter and Hectoliter
1 hl $= 1 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10$ ml $= 100,000$ ml
1 ml $= 0.00001$ hal
Milliliter and Kiloliter
1 kl $= 1 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 = 1,000,000$ ml
1 ml $= 0.000001$ kl
Milliliter and Customary Units of Volume
The common US customary volume units are fluid ounces (fl. oz.), cups, pints, quarts, and gallons. The below conversion chart summarizes their relationship with each other.
The relationship between milliliter and US customary units of volume are:
Milliliter and Ounce
1 fl. oz. $= 29.5735$ ml or $29.57$ ml
1 ml $= 0.033$ fl. oz.
Milliliter and Cup
1 US cup $= 236.58$ ml
1 ml $= 0.004$ cups
Milliliter and Pint
1 pt $= 473.17$ ml
1 ml $= 0.002$ pt
Milliliter and Quart
1 qt $= 946.35$ ml
1 ml $= 0.001$ qt
Milliliter and Gallon
1 gal $= 3785.4$ ml
1 ml $= 0.0002$ gal
Milliliter Facts
- What is the relationship between milliliter and centimeters? We know that $1 \text{l} = 1000$ cubic meters. But $1 \text{l} = 1000 \text{ml}$. So, $1 \text{ml} = 1$ cubic meter. Therefore, one milliliter is one cubic meter.
- What is the weight of 1 ml of water? We know that the weight of 1 l of water is 1 kg. But 1 kg is 1000 g and 1 l is 1000 ml. So, $1000 \text{ml} = 1000 \text{g}$ or $1 \text{ml} = 1 \text{g}$. Therefore, one ml of water weighs 1 g.
- One US teaspoon is 4.92 ml, and one US tablespoon is 14.78 ml.
- How many drops in a milliliter? There are approximately 20 drops of water in a milliliter.
Solved Examples
1. Doctor asked Joe to drink half a gallon of water daily. How much is it in milliliters?
Solution:
We know that 1 gal $= 3785.4$ ml
So, 0.5 gallon $= 3785.4 \div 2$
$= 1892.5$ ml.
2. How many milliliters are in 4 deciliters?
Solution:
From the conversion table, $4 \text{dl} = 4 \times 10 \times 10 \text{ml}$
$= 400$ ml
3. Which is bigger $ −3$ cups or 0.75 l?
Solution:
1 US cup $= 236.58$ ml
3 cups $= 3 \times 236.58$ ml
$= 709.34$ ml
$0.75 l = 0.75 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10$ ml (from the conversion chart)
$= 750$ ml
So, $0.75 l \gt 3$ cups
4. How many 750 ml bottles do you require to store a gallon of coke?
Solution:
One gal $= 3785.4$ ml
Bottle capacity $= 750$ ml
So, the number of bottles needed $= 3785.4 \div 750$
$= 5$ bottles
5. Arrange in ascending order: 2 pints, 50 tablespoons, 9 deciliters, 500 ml.
Solution:
- $1 \text{pt} = 473.17$ ml
2 pints $= 2 \times 473.2$ ml $= 946.4$ ml
- 50 tablespoons $= 50 \times 14.78$ ml $= 739$ ml
- 9 deciliters $= 9 \times 10 \times 10$ ml (conversion chart) $= 900$ ml
Arranging in ascending order: $500 \text{ml} \lt 50 \text{Tbsp} \lt 9 \text{dl} \lt 2 \text{pt}$.
Practice Problems
Milliliter - Definition with Examples
How many centiliters are 100 l?
From the conversion chart, $100 \text{l} = 100 \times (10 \times 10)$ cl
$= 10,000$ c
How many hectoliters $= 6000$ ml?
From the conversion chart, $6000 \text{ml} = 6000 \div (10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10)$
$= 0.06$ hl
There are 5000 drops of water in a mug. What is its capacity in ml?
One ml contains 20 drops. So, one drop is $\frac{1}{20} \text{ml}$.
5,000 drops $= 5,000 \times 120$
$= 250$ ml
Arrange in descending order: (1) 10,000 drops, (2) 120 tsp, (3) 24 ounces, (4) 0.04 dal, and (5) 600 ml
10,000 drops $= 10,000 \times 1/20 \text{ml}$
$= 500$ ml…… (1)
120 tsp $= 120 \times 4.92 \text{ml}$
$= 590.4$ ml…… (2)
24 ounces $= 24 \times 29.57 \text{ml}$
$= 709.68$ ml……(3)
0.04 dal $= 0.04 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10 \text{ml}$
$= 400$ ml……(4)
600 ml…… (5)
Arranging in descending order, $(3) \gt (5) \gt (2) \gt (1) \gt (4)$
Atif, Flora, and Garth bought 2 qt, 1 l, and 750 ml bottles of soft drinks, respectively. The total volume of soft drinks they have is:
We know that 1 qt $= 946.35$ ml
2 qt $= 1892.7$ ml
Atif has a 1892.7 ml soft drink.
$1 \text{l} = 1 \times 10 \times 10 \times 10$ ml
$= 1000$ ml
Flora has a 1000 ml soft drink.
Garth has a 750 ml soft drink.
So, the total volume of soft drink $= 1892.7 + 1000 + 750$ ml
$= 3642.7$ ml
Frequently Asked Questions
What does milliliter measure?
A milliliter is a metric unit that measures volume or capacity.
What is the base unit of the milliliter?
The base unit of a milliliter is the liter (l).
What are some things commonly measured in milliliters?
Liquid medications, beverages sold in smaller containers, milk sold in small cartons, liquid detergents, shampoo, oil, handwash, sanitizers, perfumes, moisturizers, etc., are measured in milliliters.
What is the relationship between cc and ml?
Both cc and ml are units of volume. Here, cc means cubic centimeters. And 1 milliliter is 1 cubic centimeter.
Is the unit “ml” used only for liquids?
Yes, “ml” is used for measuring volume or capacity of fluid amounts. We use cubic centimeters “cc” to measure the volume of solids.
