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US cups to litres

Multiply US cups by 0.236588 to get litres.

1 cup = 0.236588 LNIST HB 44 · BIPM SI
cup
1.1829L

5 cup = 1.1829 L

How to convert US cups to litres

The litre is a cubic decimetre (0.001 m³), the SI-accepted metric unit of volume. The US cup is a US customary cup, one sixteenth of a gallon (236.5882365 millilitres).

Worked example — 5 cup: 5 × 0.236588 = 1.1829 L.

US cups to litres table

Common conversions. The reverse table is on litres to US cups.
US cupsLitres
1 cup0.236588 L
2 cup0.473176 L
3 cup0.709765 L
4 cup0.946353 L
5 cup1.1829 L
6 cup1.4195 L
8 cup1.8927 L
10 cup2.3659 L
16 cup3.7854 L

Reverse and related

About US cups and litres

US cup (cup)

1 cup = 0.236588 L

Definition. A US customary cup, one sixteenth of a gallon (236.5882365 millilitres)

History and origin

The US customary cup was standardised as a cooking measure at one sixteenth of a gallon, about 237 millilitres. It became popular through American recipe books in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Current use

The cup is the dominant volume measure in US home cooking and baking; metric recipes usually give millilitres or grams instead.

Source: NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C §2 (U.S. Customary Units) and §5 (Tables of Equivalents)

Litre (L)

1 L = 4.2268 cup

Definition. A cubic decimetre (0.001 m³), the SI-accepted metric unit of volume

History and origin

The litre was introduced in France in 1795 as a unit of volume, defined as one cubic decimetre. It is not an SI base unit but is accepted for use with the SI.

Current use

Litres measure drinks and bottles, fuel and engine sizes across the metric world, and appear on beverage containers almost everywhere.

Source: BIPM SI Brochure (2019); the litre is an SI-accepted unit (1 L = 1 dm³)

Where people use this

US cups: recipes, baking. Litres: drinks and bottles, fuel, engine sizes. 4 US cups is about 0.95 L.

How we know this is right
The factor is fixed by the standards that define the units, not chosen — so it is exact, not a measurement:
1 L = 4.226752838 cup, so 1 cup = 1 ÷ 4.226752838 = 0.236588 L.

Every value is carried to full double precision; the display is rounded.

Sources: BIPM SI Brochure (2019); the litre is an SI-accepted unit (1 L = 1 dm³); NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C §2 (U.S. Customary Units) and §5 (Tables of Equivalents).

Questions people ask

How many litres is 4 cups?

4 US cups is about 0.95 litres.

How many cups in a litre?

One litre is about 4.23 US cups.

How many litres is 2 cups?

2 US cups is about 0.47 litres.

All US cup conversions