US Gallons to Cubic Meters (gal to m³)
1 US gallon equals 0.003785411784 cubic meters exactly.
How to convert US gallons to cubic meters
To convert US gallons to cubic meters, multiply the number of US gallons by 0.003785411784. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply cubic meters by 264.1720524 (rounded).
cubic meters = US gallons × 0.003785411784
Example: 10 US gallons = 0.03785411784 cubic meters.
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
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
Cubic Meter (m³)
The SI derived unit of volume: 1,000 liters. Used for water supply, gas, concrete and shipping space.
When the metric system was set up, the cube whose edge is one meter became its natural large unit of volume. A cubic meter also went by other names: kiloliter, now rarely used, and stere, still applied to stacked firewood. In modern SI it is the coherent derived unit of volume, and the liter is a convenience unit defined from it as one thousandth of a cubic meter.
A cubic meter is large by everyday standards. It holds 1,000 liters, and pure water at its densest weighs almost exactly one tonne in that space, which is how the metric tonne and the cubic meter ended up so conveniently paired. It is the unit of choice for water supply, gas, timber, concrete and shipping space, where freight is often quoted in CBM. For a picture, about 6.29 oil barrels or 264 US gallons fit in one, and an Olympic swimming pool, at least 2 meters deep, holds roughly 2,500 of them.
1 cubic meter = 1,000 liters (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Cubic metre; Wikipedia: Olympic-size swimming pool; NIST Guide to the SI, Chapter 5: units outside the SI
Related conversions
- Cubic meters to US gallons (reverse)
- US gallons to liters
- US gallons to milliliters
- US gallons to US cups
- US gallons to US fluid ounces
- US gallons to cubic centimeters
- US gallons to US quarts
- US gallons to US pints
- US gallons to US tablespoons
- US gallons to US teaspoons
- US gallons to metric cups
- US gallons to metric tablespoons
- US gallons to metric teaspoons
- Liters to cubic meters
- Milliliters to cubic meters
- US cups to cubic meters
- US fluid ounces to cubic meters
- Cubic centimeters to cubic meters
- US quarts to cubic meters
- US pints to cubic meters
- US tablespoons to cubic meters
- US teaspoons to cubic meters
- Metric cups to cubic meters
- Metric tablespoons to cubic meters
- Metric teaspoons to cubic meters
See all volume units.