Milliliters to Deciliters (mL to dL)

1 milliliter equals 0.01 deciliters exactly.

1 milliliter = 0.01 deciliters

How to convert milliliters to deciliters

To convert milliliters to deciliters, multiply the number of milliliters by 0.01. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply deciliters by 100.

deciliters = milliliters × 0.01

Example: 10 milliliters = 0.1 deciliters.

Pints, quarts, gallons and fluid ounces differ between the US and the UK. Units are labeled 'US' or 'imperial' to avoid confusion.

About these units

Milliliter (mL)

Metric (SI)Current unit

One thousandth of a liter, or exactly 1 cubic centimeter. Used for medicine, cooking and small containers.

Milliliters inherit everything from the liter, since the prefix simply means one thousandth. Because the liter is a cubic decimeter, a milliliter works out to exactly one cubic centimeter, a coincidence the metric system built in on purpose so that volume, length and mass interlock. One milliliter of water has a mass of about one gram, so a dosing syringe, a kitchen scale and a measuring jug can all be checked against one another.

Today milliliters dominate wherever small amounts must be measured precisely: medicine, flavorings, perfume, shampoo and the fine print on drink labels. Spelling is a mild regional split, with uppercase mL preferred in the United States, Canada and Australia and lowercase ml common in the UK and Europe. For scale, a US teaspoon is just under 5 mL, a US tablespoon is about 14.8 mL, and the US nutrition-label cup is exactly 240 mL, so one such cup is 240 of these tiny units.

1 milliliter = 0.001 liters (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Litre; NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume; 21 CFR 101.9: nutrition labeling household measures

Deciliter (dL)

Metric (SI)Current unit

One tenth of a liter (100 mL). Common in recipes in Scandinavia and Switzerland.

Cookbooks and menus in Croatia, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries still measure with the deciliter, writing recipes in dL where an American cook would reach for a cup. A deciliter is one tenth of a liter, so it holds 100 cubic centimeters, or 100 milliliters, and it is a little under half of a US customary cup.

The prefix deci- means one tenth. In practice the unit suits a household portion between a spoon and a full liter. Ten deciliters make a liter, and ten centiliters make a deciliter, so conversion needs only a shifted decimal point. The figure used here is exactly 0.1 liter. For scale, five deciliters make half a liter, and one deciliter is 100 times a single milliliter.

1 deciliter = 0.1 liters (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Litre; Wikipedia: Metric prefix

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