The tutor admits he should know more about these conversions.  In this article, US measures are in focus; UK ones will be considered in a coming post.

Recently I was asked about conversions between mL, US fl. oz, cup, quart, and pint. While I had ideas what the answers were, I had to admit not knowing for sure.

A pint, I thought, was 0.5L or 500mL.  A cup, I thought, was 250mL.  A cup, I also thought, was 8 fl oz (fluid ounces).

I was right about the cup being 8 fl oz, but wrong on the other counts.  Since 1 cup is 8 fl. oz., and 1 fl. oz. is 29.57 mL, a cup is 8×29.57mL = 236.56 ≈ 237mL.  That’s about 5 percent less than the 250 mL I had thought.  A pint, at 16 fl oz, is 16×29.57mL = 473.12mL  ≈ 473 mL.  That’s about 5% less than 500mL.

A quart is two pints, or 32 fl oz.  A pint, at 16 fl oz, is 2 cups.  So a quart is 4 cups (US). I hadn’t known those conversions, but there they are.

One final issue:  the conversion from quart to litre.  Many people think they’re the same, and they virtually are, for everyday purposes.  However, a quart is really 32×29.57mL or about 946mL.  It’s about 5 percent less than a litre.

Fluid measures comprise a big topic.  I’ll be continuing it in future posts:)

Source: For the conversions, I used Google itself, and also www.traditionaloven.com

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.