US Gallons to US Cups (gal to cup)
1 US gallon equals 16 US cups exactly.
How to convert US gallons to US cups
To convert US gallons to US cups, multiply the number of US gallons by 16. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply US cups by 0.0625.
US cups = US gallons × 16
Example: 10 US gallons = 160 US cups.
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
US Cup (cup)
One sixteenth of a US gallon, 236.588 mL (8 US fluid ounces). The standard US recipe cup.
Cups began as household drinking vessels, not scientific units, which is why they remain the messiest measures in the kitchen. The US customary cup was defined by slicing up the gallon: half a pint, or eight US fluid ounces, about 236.6 milliliters. Unlike the larger units, nobody ever fixed it to a physical vessel, so it exists only as a fraction of the gallon.
The customary cup is not the only American cup. For nutrition labels, US regulation defines a cup as exactly 240 milliliters, a rounder figure that sits slightly above the customary size. Packaged foods therefore list a serving in the legal cup while a measuring cup from the hardware store follows the customary definition. The gap is 3.4 milliliters, which hardly matters for soup but can matter in baking. Cup measures also hide the weight of dry ingredients, since a cup of sifted flour and a cup of packed flour differ substantially, which is why much of the world prefers grams.
1 US cup = 0.2365882365 liters (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Cup (unit); NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume; 21 CFR 101.9: nutrition labeling household measures
Related conversions
- US cups to US gallons (reverse)
- US gallons to liters
- US gallons to milliliters
- US gallons to US fluid ounces
- US gallons to cubic meters
- 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 US cups
- Milliliters to US cups
- US fluid ounces to US cups
- Cubic meters to US cups
- Cubic centimeters to US cups
- US quarts to US cups
- US pints to US cups
- US tablespoons to US cups
- US teaspoons to US cups
- Metric cups to US cups
- Metric tablespoons to US cups
- Metric teaspoons to US cups
See all volume units.