Gallon

Gallon is a unit of measurement for volume, primarily used in the United States but also commonly used in many other English speaking countries. Most other countries use "liters" - the metric unit of measure for volume. The gallon is used in fuel economy expressions in the US, as well as in the calculation of alcohol content of alcoholic beverages, and in the measurement of fluids such as milk, water, and juice.

US Gallon

The US gallon (gal) is legally defined as 231 cubic inches, which is exactly 3.785411784 liters. A US liquid gallon of water weighs about 8.34 pounds or 3.78 kilograms at 62 °F (17 °C), making it about 16.6% lighter than the imperial gallon. In US measure, one gallon of pure water does weigh 8.34 pounds at its boiling point, but less at room temperature.

Imperial Gallon

The imperial gallon is a unit for measuring a volume of liquid or the capacity of a container for storing liquid, not the mass of a liquid. Thus, a gallon of one liquid may have a different mass from a gallon of a different liquid. An imperial gallon of liquid is defined as 4.54609 liters, and thus occupies a space equivalent to approximately 4,546 cubic centimeters (roughly a 16.5 cm cube). The imperial gallon was used in the UK until 1994 and is used in Canada.

Gallon in Other Countries

In the countries of the former British Empire, the gallon was replaced by the liter as a unit of measure when they converted to the metric system. The gallon continues to be used as a unit of measure in these countries only for the purpose of labeling and advertising products, and the size of the gallon used varies depending on the country.

See Also

• Fluid ounce
• Pint
• Quart
• Liter

Gallon Resources
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