Litres to Cubic Metres Converter
1,000 L = 1 m³ exactly. Type in either box.
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Divide by a thousand
A thousand litres make a cubic metre. The conversion is a decimal shift of three places.
1,000 L = 1 m³ exactly
Tank capacities, water usage and irrigation figures move between the two constantly — litres for the reading, cubic metres for the bill.
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 cubic metre
The SI unit of volume: a cube one metre on each side, holding exactly 1,000 litres. It is the unit of water bills, concrete orders, shipping volumes and gas meters.
One cubic metre of fresh water weighs almost exactly one tonne, which is a useful thing to be able to reach for.
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.
- 10 L to m³
- 50 L to m³
- 100 L to m³
- 200 L to m³
- 500 L to m³
- 750 L to m³
- 1,000 L to m³
- 1,500 L to m³
- 2,000 L to m³
- 5,000 L to m³
- 10,000 L to m³
Quick reference
| Litres | Cubic metres |
|---|---|
| 10 L | 0.01 m³ |
| 100 L | 0.1 m³ |
| 500 L | 0.5 m³ |
| 1,000 L | 1 m³ |
| 2,000 L | 2 m³ |
| 5,000 L | 5 m³ |
| 10,000 L | 10 m³ |
Questions people ask
How many litres in a cubic metre?
Exactly 1,000.
What is 500 L in m³?
0.5 m³.
What does a cubic metre of water weigh?
About one tonne.