Shō to US Gallons (shō to gal)
1 shō equals 0.4765417714 US gallons (rounded).
How to convert shō to US gallons
To convert shō to US gallons, multiply the number of shō by 0.4765417714. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply US gallons by 2.09845193 (rounded).
US gallons = shō × 0.4765417714
Example: 10 shō = 4.765417714 US gallons.
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
Shō (shō)
Exactly 2401/1331 liters, about 1.8039 L. Sake bottles still come in 1.8 L 'isshō-bin' sizes.
The character for shō depicts a ladle holding grain, and the measure began as roughly the amount held in two cupped hands, about 200 mL. Over the centuries the unit grew to about ten times that, and by the Edo period the standard box (masu) was the one used in Kyoto.
In 1669 the shogunate abolished the older Edo masu and ordered the slightly larger new Kyoto masu to be used everywhere. Guilds in Edo and Kyoto policed its size for roughly three centuries. The 1891 Weights and Measures Act then fixed the shō at 2401/1331 L, about 1.804 L, derived from the 64,827 cubic bu of that box.
Japanese sake is still sold in 1.8 L bottles known as isshō-bin, or one-shō bottles. Trade use of the shō was banned in 1959. Note that in China the shō is defined as exactly one litre, so the same word names a different size there.
1 shō = 1.803906837 liters (approximately).
Sources: Wikipedia: Japanese units of measurement; Japanese Wikipedia: Sho
US Gallon (gal)
Exactly 231 cubic inches or 3.785411784 liters (128 US fluid ounces). About 17% smaller than the imperial gallon.
The US gallon is a survivor of English wine trade. Around 1706, a statute in Queen Anne's reign fixed the wine gallon at exactly 231 cubic inches, settling confusion among the competing gallons for wine, ale and corn. British colonies in North America used that wine gallon, and in 1824 Britain replaced all its gallons with a new imperial one while the United States kept the old measure. It was adopted as the legal US standard in 1836 and is still defined as exactly 231 cubic inches, or 3.785411784 liters.
That makes the US gallon about 17 percent smaller than the imperial gallon, a difference that explains why American and British fuel-economy figures cannot be compared directly. Everyday uses are milk jugs, paint cans and gasoline pumps. One gallon divides evenly into four quarts, eight pints, sixteen cups and 128 fluid ounces. A gallon of water weighs a little over 8 pounds, an easy figure to remember when loading a car with water jugs.
1 US gallon = 3.785411784 liters (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Gallon; NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume
Related conversions
- US gallons to shō (reverse)
- Shō to liters
- Shō to milliliters
- Shō to US cups
- Shō to US fluid ounces
- Liters to US gallons
- Milliliters to US gallons
- US cups to US gallons
- US fluid ounces to US gallons
- Cubic meters to US gallons
- Cubic centimeters to US gallons
- US quarts to US gallons
- US pints to US gallons
- US tablespoons to US gallons
- US teaspoons to US gallons
- Metric cups to US gallons
- Metric tablespoons to US gallons
See all volume units.