Cubic Centimetres to Litres Converter
1,000 cm³ = 1 L exactly. Type in either box.
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A thousand cubic centimetres to the litre
A litre is a cube 10 cm on each side, so it holds 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000 cubic centimetres.
1 L = 1,000 cm³ exactly
Engine sizes are the common case. A 2,000 cc engine is 2.0 litres, which is why both figures appear in the same brochure.
The cubic centimetre
A cube one centimetre on each side, and exactly equal to one millilitre. Medicine tends to write cc, engineering writes cm³, and cookery writes mL, but all three are the same volume.
Engine displacement is the most familiar use: a 1,600 cc engine sweeps 1.6 litres.
The litre
A cubic decimetre — a cube 10 cm on each side. It is not an SI base unit but is accepted for use with SI, and it is the everyday volume unit almost everywhere.
Between 1901 and 1964 the litre was defined as the volume of one kilogram of water, which made it 1.000028 cubic decimetres rather than exactly one. That definition was abandoned, and the litre is now exactly a cubic decimetre again.
The working, step by step
Every line updates with whatever you type above. The point is the method, which is the same for any pair of units in this family.
The same quantity, two different numbers
One physical amount, read off two scales. The tick marks do not line up, and the gap between them is the conversion factor made visible.
How much is that?
A number is easier to judge next to something familiar.
Your turn
Reading a method and being able to use it are different things. Answer within half a per cent and it counts as correct.
Score: 0 of 0
How to use this converter
- Type into either box. The other side updates as you go; there is no button to press.
- Swap the direction with the button between the boxes, carrying your value across.
- Set the decimals if the default is more or less precision than you need.
- Copy the answer with its unit, ready to paste.
- Use the shortcut buttons for the values that come up most often.
- Share the result. The address bar tracks what you type, so the link you copy opens on the same number.
Common uses and tips
Where cubic conversions come up
- Concrete, topsoil and aggregate, sold by the cubic yard in America and the cubic metre almost everywhere else.
- Engine displacement, historically in cubic inches in the United States and in cubic centimetres or litres elsewhere.
- Shipping and storage, where container and room volumes come in cubic feet or cubic metres.
- Gas meters, which read in cubic feet in some countries and cubic metres in others.
The trap: cubic factors are length factors cubed
A foot is 0.3048 metres. A cubic foot is not 0.3048 cubic metres — it is 0.3048 × 0.3048 × 0.3048, which is 0.028316846592.
The same logic runs everywhere. A yard is 3 feet, so a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. A metre is 100 cm, so a cubic metre is 1,000,000 cubic centimetres. Using the plain length factor instead gives an answer wrong by a factor of hundreds or thousands, which is at least an obvious sort of wrong.
Numbers worth carrying
- 1 m³ = 1,000 litres. Exactly.
- 1 ft³ = 28.3168 litres, or 1,728 cubic inches.
- 1 yd³ = 27 ft³, exactly.
- 1 in³ = 16.387064 mL, exactly.
- A cubic metre of water weighs a tonne; a cubic foot weighs about 62.4 lb.
Values people look up most
Each one opens the converter with the number already in it.
- 50 cm³ to L
- 100 cm³ to L
- 250 cm³ to L
- 500 cm³ to L
- 750 cm³ to L
- 1,000 cm³ to L
- 1,300 cm³ to L
- 1,600 cm³ to L
- 2,000 cm³ to L
- 2,500 cm³ to L
- 3,000 cm³ to L
- 5,000 cm³ to L
Quick reference
| Cubic centimetres | Litres |
|---|---|
| 100 cm³ | 0.1 L |
| 500 cm³ | 0.5 L |
| 1,000 cm³ | 1 L |
| 1,600 cm³ | 1.6 L |
| 2,000 cm³ | 2 L |
| 3,000 cm³ | 3 L |
| 5,000 cm³ | 5 L |
Questions people ask
How many cm³ in a litre?
Exactly 1,000.
What is a 2,000 cc engine in litres?
2.0 litres.
Is a cm³ the same as a mL?
Yes, exactly.