Convert ml to drops
1 ml is 20 drops when you count the metric pharmacy drop of 0.05 ml. Enter millilitres, such as 2.5 ml, and the converter shows the number of drops: 50.
How many drops are in 1 ml?
20 drops. Pharmacists round a drop to exactly 0.05 ml[1], and 20 of those make a millilitre.
To convert millilitres to drops, multiply by 20: drops = ml × 20. 0.1 ml is 2 drops, 0.25 ml is 5 drops and 5 ml is 100 drops. With small volumes the Copy result button saves you retyping the number.
To go back from drops to millilitres, use the drops to ml converter.
How does a millilitre differ from a drop?
A millilitre is a fixed volume, one thousandth of a litre. Half a millilitre of water, oil or syrup is always the same amount, while ten drops are not, because the size of a drop depends on the dropper and on the viscosity, density and surface tension of the liquid[1].
Hospitals show how far apart drops can be. IV sets make drops of a fixed size, which B. Braun, a maker of the sets, gives on the package as 10, 15, 20 or 60 drops per mL[2], so the same millilitre can be ten drops through one set and sixty through another.
How many drops are in a given number of millilitres?
| Millilitres | Drops |
|---|---|
| 0.05 | 1 gtt |
| 0.1 | 2 gtt |
| 0.2 | 4 gtt |
| 0.25 | 5 gtt |
| 0.3 | 6 gtt |
| 0.4 | 8 gtt |
| 0.5 | 10 gtt |
| 0.6 | 12 gtt |
| 0.75 | 15 gtt |
| 1 | 20 gtt |
| 1.5 | 30 gtt |
| 2 | 40 gtt |
| 2.5 | 50 gtt |
| 3 | 60 gtt |
| 4 | 80 gtt |
| 5 | 100 gtt |
| 10 | 200 gtt |
| 15 | 300 gtt |
| 20 | 400 gtt |
| 30 | 600 gtt |
| 50 | 1,000 gtt |
| 100 | 2,000 gtt |
How many drops are in 1 ml of eye drops?
On average more than 20. Eye drops fall from the plastic tip of the bottle, not from a standard dropper. A 1986 study of 20 glaucoma medications found an average drop of 39.0 µl, with preparations ranging from 25.1 to 56.4 µl[3]. A microlitre (µl) is one thousandth of a millilitre, so the average drop in that study was 0.039 ml and a millilitre of such a medicine gives about 26 drops.
The example shows that the converter’s result applies to the metric drop. A dropper bottle can give larger or smaller drops, depending on its tip and on the liquid.
Which number formats does this converter accept?
| What you type | What the converter shows | How we read it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 gtt | A number on its own is read in millilitres, because that is the unit of the field. |
| 0.5 | 10 gtt | The point is the decimal separator, so the field holds half a millilitre. |
| 0,5 | 10 gtt | A comma followed by one digit is a European decimal comma, so this is also half a millilitre. |
| 1,500 | 30000 gtt | Three digits after the comma mark a thousands separator, so we count one thousand five hundred millilitres. A note under the field says “Read as 1500. If you meant 1.5, type 1.5.” |
| 5 ml | 100 gtt | ml is the unit of the field, so the number goes in unchanged. |
| 1 drop | 1 gtt | Drops are converted to 0.05 ml with a note under the field, so the result comes back to one drop. |
| 1/2 | 10 gtt | A fraction is divided out, so half a millilitre gives 10 drops. |
| 2 tsp | 200 gtt | Teaspoons are converted to 10 ml, because the field counts a metric teaspoon of 5 ml, and a note under the field says so. |
| 1 l | 20000 gtt | A litre is converted to 1,000 ml with a note under the field. |
| 1e-1 | 2 gtt | Scientific notation from a spreadsheet is read as it stands: 1e-1 is 0.1 ml. |
Convert Millilitres to other units
Sources
- Drop (unit) — Wikipedia
- Gravity flow rate drip chart — B. Braun Medical Inc., via ISMP
- Drop size of commercial glaucoma medications — American Journal of Ophthalmology, PubMed
Every figure in the tables was computed from the unit definitions and checked arithmetically before publication. Historical values and the names of local units come from the sources listed above.
Content last reviewed: · written and checked by the Arteon team
Common questions about converting millilitres to drops
How many drops are in a teaspoon?
100 metric drops, because a metric teaspoon holds 5 ml and each millilitre is 20 drops. The tsp to ml converter turns teaspoons into millilitres.
What does gtt mean?
It is the abbreviation for drop on prescriptions, with gtts for the plural, and it comes from the Latin gutta[1]. The converter shows its result with the same abbreviation.
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