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Conversion of Unit Measures

From metric to imperial and vice versa, including cooking units of measure

It is useful to be able to translate "new" units into those with which you are familiar.

For your convenience we have listed below the most popular conversion factors, including the ever important "kitchen" units of measure.

The metric system is a nearly globally accepted standard, but imperial is still used. In fact, most countries have either used the metric system for many years, or have adopted the metric system within the last 30 years. In the 1970s, most British Commonwealth nations changed from the imperial system of units to the metric system.

The definition of whether a country is metric or not can be controversial, however the United States is the most significant one which holds out against metric use, together with Liberia (Western Africa), neither of which to date  have an official policy of converting to metric.

In Myanmar (Burma), measurements are non-metric. Although miles, pounds, and gallons are used, at the local market, all food stuffs are weighed in viss and ticalsIn Burma, gold weight is measured in tical.

One viss equals 3.6 pounds, and there are 100 ticals to a viss. 

One tical equals 58 ounces. Gasoline (called petrol locally) is measured by the Imperial gallon.  (one Imperial gallon equals 1.2 US gallons).

Length

Metric to Imperial

When you know                               Multiply by                To find
millilitres                                             0.2                                teaspoons
millilitres                                             0.07                              tablespoons
millilitres                                             0.03                              fluid ounces
litres                                                    4.23                              cups
litres                                                    2.1                                pints
litres                                                    1.06                              quarts
litres                                                    0.26                              gallons

Imperial to Metric

When you know                               Multiply by                To find
teaspoon                                             5                                  millilitres
tablespoon                                        15                                  millilitres
fluid ounces                                      30                                  millilitres
cups                                                   0.24                               litres
pints                                                   0.47                               litres
quarts                                                0.95                                litres
gallons                                              3.8                                  litres

Speed conversions  
Knots Miles per Hour Kilometers per Hour
1 1.152   1.85
2 2.303   3.70
3 3.445   5.55
4 4.606   7.41
5 5.758   9.26
6 6.909   11.13
7 8.061   12.98
8 9.212   14.83
9 10.364   16.68
10 11.515   18.55
1 Knot = 1 Nautical Mile per hour
1 Nautical mile = 2000 yards = 6000 feet
1 Statute mile = 1760 yards = 5280 feet

Temperature

When you know       Do this operation                                       To find

Celsius                       multiply 9, divide by 5, add 32                   Fahrenheit
Celsius                       add  273.16                                                  Kelvin
Fahrenheit                 subtract 32, multiply by 5, divide by 9      Celsius
Kelvin                         subtract 273.16                                            Celsius

Conversion - cooking temperatures

Gas Mark    Heat Level                Fahrenheit        Centigrade
9                   Very Hot                    475                     246
8                   Very Hot                    450                     232
7                   Hot                             425                     218
6                   Moderately Hot        400                     205
5                   Moderately Hot         375                    190
4                   Moderate/Medium   350                     177
3                   Warm                         325                     163
2                   Slow/Low                   300                    149
1                   Very Slow/Very Low 275                     135
1/2                Very Slow/Very Low 250                      121

Cooking measurements

When you know                               Multiply by                  To find 
ounces                                              0.45                                 kilograms

Mind the 't' when looking at recipes. The small 't' is a tea spoon, whereas the capital 'T' is for table spoon, quite a significant difference if you have mistaken it! Another way of abbreviating teaspoon is 'tsp' and tablespoon is 'tbsp'.

3 teaspoons                   = 1 tablespoon 
4 tablespoons                = 1/4 cup 
5 1/3 tablespoons          = 1/3 cup 
8 tablespoons                = 1/2 cup 
10 2/3 tablespoons        = 2/3 cup 
12 tablespoons               = 3/4 cup 
16 tablespoons                 = 1 cup 
____________________________
1 tablespoon                 = 1/2 fluid ounce 
1 cup                              = 8 fluid ounces 
1 cup                              = 1/2 pint 
2 cups                            = 1 pint 
4 cups                            = 1 quart 
2 pints                            = 1 quart 
4 quarts                         = 1 gallon 
____________________________
1 teaspoon                   = 5 millilitres 
1 tablespoon                = 15 millilitres 
1 cup                             = 240 millilitres 
1 quart                           = 1 litre 
1 ounce                         = 28 grams 
1 pound                        = 435.5 grams

 

Volume

Metric to Imperial

When you know                               Multiply by       To find 
grams                                                0.035                ounces
kilograms                                          2.2                    pounds
ounces                                              0.45                  kilograms

Imperial to Metric

inches                                                 2.54                  centimetres
feet                                                     30                       centimetres
yards                                                    0.9                    metres
miles                                                   1.6                    kilometres

Mass (Weight)

100 grams   = 3 1/2 ounces
1000 grams   = 1 kilogram
1 kilogram  = 2.2 pounds
1 ounce  = 28.35 grams
16 ounces  = 1 pound
1 pound  = 453.6 grams  

1 milligram [mg]  =   0.0154 grain
1 gram [g]   =  1,000 mg  =  0.0353 oz
1 kilogram [kg]  =  1,000 g  =  2.2046 lb
1 tonne [t]  =  1,000 kg  =  0.9842 ton

Imperial to metric

1 ounce [oz]  =  437.5 grain  =  28.35 g
1 pound [lb]  =  16 oz  =  0.4536 kg
1 stone  =  14 lb  =  6.3503 kg
1 hundredweight [cwt]  =  112 lb  =  50.802 kg
1 long ton (UK)  20 cwt  =  1.016 t

Length

Metric to Imperial

When you know:                            Multiply by          To find  
millimetres                                        0.04                    inches 
centimetres                                       0.4                      inches 
metres                                                3.3                      feet 
kilometres                                          0.6                      miles

metric -> imperial
1 millimetre [mm]  =   0.03937 in
1 centimetre [cm]  = 10 mm = 0.3937 in
1 metre [m]  = 100 cm   1.0936 yd
1 kilometre [km]  1000 m   0.6214 mile

imperial -> metric
1 inch [in]   =   2.54 cm
1 foot [ft]  = 12 in =  0.3048 m
1 yard [yd]  = 3 ft =  0.9144 m
1 mile =  1760 yd  = 1.6093 km
1 int nautical mile  =  2025.4 yd  = 1.853 km


Area

metric -> imperial
1 sq cm [cm2]  =  100 mm2  =  0.1550 in2
1 sq m [m2]  =  10,000 cm2 =  1.1960 yd2
1 sq km [km2] = 100 ha = 0.3861 square mile 
1 hectare [ha]  =  10,000 m2  =  2.4711 acres

imperial -> metric
1 sq inch [in2]  =   6.4516 cm2
1 sq foot [ft2]  =  144 in2  =  0.0929 m2
1 sq yd [yd2]  =  9 ft2  =  0.8361 m2
1 acre  =  4840 yd2  =  4046.9 m2
1 sq mile [mile2]  =  640 acres  =  2.59 km2
 


Volume/capacity

metric -> imperial
1 cu cm [cm3]  =  0.0610 in3
1 cu decimetre [dm3]   =  1,000 cm3  =  0.0353 ft3
1 cu metre [m3]  =  1,000 dm3  =  1.3080 yd3
1 litre [l]   =  1 dm3  =  1.76 pt
1 hectolitre [hl]  =  100 l   =   21.997 gal

imperial -> metric
1 cu inch [in3]   =  16.387 cm3
1 cu foot [ft3]  =  1,728 in3  =  0.0283 m3
1 fluid ounce [fl oz]  =  28.413 ml
1 pint [pt]   =  20 fl oz  0.5683 l
1 gallon [gal]  =  8 pt  =  4.5461 l

USA measure -> metric
1 fluid ounce  =  1.0408 UK fl oz  =  29.574 ml
1 pint (16 fl oz)  =  0.8327 UK pt  =  0.4731 l
1 gallon  =  0.8327 UK gal  =  3.7854 l


 

 

 

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