Tabla de Contenidos
Volume measurements are used to measure the space occupied by objects, considering three dimensions: width, length, and height. For this, the basic units of volume are used, which are the following:
| Unit | Abbreviation | Equivalence in cubic meters |
| cubic millimeter | mm3 _ | 0,000 000 001 m3 |
| Cubic centimeter | cm 3 | 0,000 001 m3 |
| cubic decimeter | dm 3 | 0.001 m3 |
| Cubic meter | m 3 | 1m3 _ |
| cubic decameter | damn 3 | 1,000 m3 |
| cubic hectometer | hmm 3 | 1,000,000 m3 |
| cubic kilometer | km 3 | 1,000,000,000 m3 |
Generally, the cubic meter is considered as the basic unit. A cubic meter is equivalent to the volume of a cube that measures one meter wide by one meter long by one meter high: 1m x 1m x 1m.
The liter (L) is also a unit of volume included in the International System of Units. One liter equals one cubic decimeter (dm³) or one thousand cubic centimeters (cm³). This is because a cubic decimeter, or liter, occupies a volume of 1 dm × 1 dm × 1 dm. Therefore, one cubic meter is equal to 1000 liters.
Liters are used to measure liquid or semi-solid products. These are measured according to the size of the container that contains them. Instead, cubic meters are used to measure objects according to their displacements or dimensions.
| Unit | Abbreviation | Equivalence in liters |
| Milliliter | ml | 0.001 liter |
| Deciliter | dl | 0.01 liter |
| centiliter | cl | 0.1 liter |
| Liter | he | 1 liter |
| Decaliter | dal | 10 liters |
| Hectolitre | hl | 100 liters |
| kiloliter | kl | 1000 liters |
Methods of conversion from cubic meters to liters
There are different methods of converting cubic meters to liters, easily and quickly.
Method 1: Move the decimal point to the right
This form of conversion does not require complex calculations or a calculator. It consists of moving the decimal point three places to the right to convert a measurement in cubic meters to liters. For example, if we have a measure of 50 cubic meters and we move the decimal point three places, this will give us as a result: 50,000 liters.
Method 2: Multiply the number of cubic meters by a thousand
This conversion method is simply about multiplying the cubic meters by 1000 to obtain its equivalence in liters, considering that 1 cubic meter is equivalent to 1000 liters. For example:
50 m 3 x 1000 L = 50000 L
Method 3: Convert to cubic meters and then to liters
Since it is often necessary to convert units of volume other than cubic meters or liters, this method consists of converting the given measurement to cubic centimeters or cubic milliliters, as required.
To do this, you can start with the cubic meter as a reference. For example, if we want to know how many liters 50 cubic centimeters are equivalent to, we must take into account that: 0.000 001 m 3 = 1 m3 = 1000 liters. Therefore:
50 cm3 = 50 x 0.000 001 m 3 = 0.00005 m 3
0.00005 m 3 x (1000 L / m 3 ) = 0.05L
Conversion from liters to cubic meters
To convert from liters to cubic meters, the previous methods can be applied, but in reverse.
Method 1: Move the decimal point to the left
To convert liters to cubic meters, move the decimal point three places to the left. For example, if we have 50 liters, and we move the decimal point to the left, we will obtain: 0.050 cubic meters.
Method 2: Divide the number of liters by thousand
If we have 50,000 liters and we need to know how many cubic meters it equals, we must perform the following operation:
50000L / (1000L / m3) = 50m3
Method 3: Convert to liters and then to cubic meters
If we have 10 KL and we want to know how many cubic meters it is, we can do these calculations:
10KL * 1000L = 10000L
10000 L / (1000 / m 3 ) = 10m 3
Example problem to convert from cubic meters to liters
To better understand how to convert from cubic meters to liters, let’s look at the following problem:
Suppose we have a measure of 0.45 m 3 and we want to know how many liters it equals. The answer, according to the different methods is:
- Method 1: We move the decimal point three places to the right: 0.45 m 3 = 450L.
- Method 2: we multiply the measurement by a thousand liters: 0.45 m 3 x (1000 L/ m 3 ) = 450L.
If, on the other hand, we have the measure 80 cm 3 and we want to convert it to liters, we can carry out the following calculations:
- Method 3: Convert the given measurement to m3 and then to liters. For example:
80cm3 x 0.000 001 m3 = 0.00008m3
0.00008m3 x 1000L/m3 = 0.08L
Finally, to make sure that the calculation was done correctly, the following must be taken into account:
- Check again the calculations made.
- Check that the values of the digits are the same. If other numbers appear that were not there before, except for the zeros, it means that there is an error in the calculation.
- When converting from cubic meters to liters, the result in liters will always be greater than the number in cubic meters. And when converting from liters to cubic meters, the result in liters will be less than the value in cubic meters.
- When converting from cubic meters to liters, the result will be a thousand times greater.
Bibliography
- Cubic meters to liters. Measurement conversion table. Available at: https://www.metric-conversions.org/es/volumen/metros-cubicos-a-litros.htm
- Dickerson, R. Principles of Chemistry. (1992). Spain. Editorial Reverté.
- Sanchez, JL; Choren, E.; Arteaga, A. Introduction to the International System of Units (SI) . (2018). Maracaibo. Kindle version. B07NKCSX6W.
