Convert liters to cubic meters

A litre is the volume of a cube 10 centimetres on each side, which is one cubic decimetre. The US measurement institute NIST writes the relationship as 1 L = 1 dm³ = 0.001 m³.[1] The symbol can be a lower-case l or a capital L. The capital was added in 1979 so that the letter l would not be mistaken for the number 1, and it is the preferred form in the United States.[1]

A cubic metre (m³) is the volume of a cube one metre on each side and the unit of volume in the International System of Units. British and international usage spells it cubic metre, while American English writes cubic meter.[2] A metre holds 10 decimetres, so the cube fits 10 × 10 × 10 litre boxes, or 1,000 litres.

The same thousand litres is also called a kilolitre, which the liters to kiloliters converter handles. For small amounts, such as a dose of medicine or a splash of oil, the liters to ml converter gives a more readable number.

The formula has one step: cubic metres = litres ÷ 1,000. Dividing by a thousand moves the decimal point three places to the left, so 2,500 l is 2.5 m³, 750 l is 0.75 m³ and 30 l is 0.03 m³.

Small amounts pick up zeros after the point. A half-litre bottle is 0.0005 m³ and 11 litres are 0.011 m³. The converter shows up to seven decimal places, so even a single millilitre (0.000001 m³) stays visible in the result field.

To go the other way, from a water meter reading or a concrete quote back to litres, use the cubic meters to liters converter. If your figure starts in US gallons, the gallons to liters converter turns it into litres first.

The converter treats volume one to one: 1,000 litres of gas are 1 m³ of gas, just as 1,000 litres of water are 1 m³ of water. Propane and LPG are different, because you buy them as a liquid, whether at the pump or delivered into a tank. Once the liquid turns into gas, the same amount takes up far more space.

At 25 °C a litre of liquid propane weighs 493 g, while a cubic metre of propane gas at the same temperature weighs 1.808 kg.[3] One litre of liquid therefore makes about 0.27 m³ of gas, roughly 270 litres. A tank holding 1,000 litres of liquid propane gives about 273 m³ of gas.

That figure is for pure propane at one temperature. The density of propane changes with temperature,[3] and LPG blended with butane has a different liquid to vapour ratio.[4] Treat the result as an estimate rather than the exact amount of gas in your cylinder or tank.