Liter to Gallon Converter
Our free volume & weight converter handles liter gallon conversions. See tables, ratios, and examples for quick reference.
Formula
US Gallons = Liters / 3.78541
Divide liters by 3.78541 for US gallons or by 4.54609 for imperial gallons. The inverse conversion multiplies gallons by the same factor to get liters.
Worked Examples
Example 1: Fuel Tank Conversion
Problem:A car has a 60-liter fuel tank. How many US gallons does it hold?
Solution:US gallons = 60 L / 3.78541 = 15.8503 gallons Quarts = 60 / 0.946353 = 63.40 quarts
Result:60 liters = 15.8503 US gallons
Example 2: Pool Water Calculation
Problem:A pool holds 500 imperial gallons. How many liters is that?
Solution:Liters = 500 x 4.54609 = 2,273.05 liters US gallons = 2273.05 / 3.78541 = 600.47 US gallons
Result:500 imperial gallons = 2,273.05 liters
Frequently Asked Questions
How many liters are in a gallon?
A US gallon contains exactly 3.78541 liters, while an imperial gallon contains 4.54609 liters. The US gallon is defined as 231 cubic inches, and the imperial gallon is defined as the volume of 10 pounds of water at a specific temperature. This approximately 20% size difference between the two gallon types is important to note when following instructions or recipes from different countries.
How do I convert liters to US gallons?
To convert liters to US gallons, divide the number of liters by 3.78541. For example, 10 liters divided by 3.78541 equals approximately 2.6417 US gallons. A quick mental approximation is to divide by 4 and add about 6 percent, since the actual conversion factor is close to 3.8. This conversion is commonly needed when comparing fuel economy between metric and imperial systems.
Why are US and imperial gallons different sizes?
The US and imperial gallons diverged historically because the US adopted the English wine gallon of 231 cubic inches in 1707, while Britain redefined the gallon in 1824 as the volume of 10 pounds of water. This resulted in the imperial gallon being about 20% larger at 277.42 cubic inches versus 231 cubic inches. The difference persists today and affects measurements in fuel, beverages, and industrial applications between the two systems.
How do I convert fuel economy between L/100km and MPG?
To convert L/100km to US MPG, divide 235.215 by the L/100km value. For imperial MPG, divide 282.481 by L/100km. For example, a car rated at 8 L/100km gets approximately 29.4 US MPG or 35.3 imperial MPG. The formulas are inversely proportional because higher L/100km means worse efficiency while higher MPG means better efficiency. This conversion is essential when comparing vehicles across different markets.
What are common liter-to-gallon conversions for everyday use?
Some handy conversions to remember: 1 liter is about 0.264 US gallons, 2 liters is roughly half a gallon, 4 liters is just over 1 gallon, and 20 liters is about 5.28 gallons. A standard gas tank of 50 liters holds about 13.2 US gallons. A 1.5-liter wine bottle is about 0.40 gallons. These approximations help with quick mental math when shopping, cooking, or traveling between metric and imperial countries.
How do you convert directly between US gallons and imperial gallons?
Divide the two definitions rather than going through litres twice. An imperial gallon is 4.54609 litres and a US liquid gallon is 3.785411784 litres, so one imperial gallon equals about 1.20095 US gallons, and one US gallon equals about 0.832674 imperial gallons. A 10 imperial gallon tank therefore holds about 12.01 US gallons. Using the direct factor avoids compounding rounding errors, which matters when the same figure is converted repeatedly in a spreadsheet of fuel or tank volumes.
What is the difference between a US liquid gallon and a US dry gallon?
The US liquid gallon is 231 cubic inches, or 3.785411784 litres, and is what fuel, milk and beverages are sold in. The US dry gallon is a separate historical measure derived from the Winchester bushel, equal to about 4.40488 litres, roughly 16 percent larger. It survives mainly in agricultural contexts such as berries and grain, usually expressed as dry quarts, pecks or bushels rather than gallons. Mixing the two silently inflates a converted volume, so always confirm which gallon a source intends.
How do quarts, pints and fluid ounces fit into a litre conversion?
A US gallon divides into 4 quarts, 8 pints or 128 US fluid ounces, so one US quart is about 0.946353 litres, one US pint is about 473.18 millilitres and one US fluid ounce is about 29.5735 millilitres. The imperial system divides its larger gallon into 160 imperial fluid ounces of about 28.4131 millilitres each, and an imperial pint is 20 ounces rather than 16. Because both the gallon and the ounce differ, recipe volumes cannot be carried across the two systems by a single factor.
Does temperature affect a volume conversion between litres and gallons?
The conversion factor itself is exact and never changes, but the physical volume being measured does. Liquids expand when warmed, and hydrocarbon fuels expand noticeably, on the order of one part per thousand per degree Celsius. A tanker load loaded cold and delivered warm therefore reads as more litres even though the mass is unchanged. This is why bulk fuel trade uses temperature compensated volumes referenced to a standard temperature. For household conversions of water or milk the effect is far too small to matter.
How do you convert a tank capacity given in cubic metres or cubic feet into gallons?
Go through litres. One cubic metre is exactly 1,000 litres, which is about 264.17 US gallons or 219.97 imperial gallons. One cubic foot is about 28.3168 litres, or about 7.4805 US gallons. Working through the cubic metre keeps the chain simple: convert the geometry to cubic metres, multiply by 1,000 for litres, then divide by 3.78541 or 4.54609. This is the usual route for sizing water tanks, pools and process vessels where the drawing dimensions are metric but the specification is in gallons.
References
Background & Theory
1 litre = 0.264172052 US gallons, so roughly 3.79 litres make a US gallon. The litre is exactly one cubic decimetre, and the US gallon is exactly 231 cubic inches, so this ratio is fixed but non-terminating and has to be rounded.
Conversion reference table
| Conversion | Equivalent | Exact or rounded? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 litre | 0.264172052 US gallons | Derived, rounded |
| 1 litre | 0.219969248 imperial gallons | Derived, rounded |
| 1 litre | 1,000 cubic centimetres | Exact by definition |
| 1 litre | 33.8140227 US fluid ounces | Derived, rounded |
| 3.785411784 litres | 1 US gallon | Exact |
| 4.54609 litres | 1 imperial gallon | Exact |
| 1 cubic foot | 28.316846592 litres = 7.48051948 US gallons | Exact / derived |
The litre is a non-SI unit that the SI accepts for use alongside it; the coherent SI volume unit is the cubic metre, of which a litre is exactly one thousandth. A 50 litre fuel tank therefore holds 13.2 US gallons or 11.0 imperial gallons, and quoting the wrong one misstates a fill-up by about two gallons.
Reviewed for accuracy by Manoj Kumar, Mathematics Educator ยท Editorial policy
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