If multiplying millimeters to find volume what do you divide by to find liters?

Answer 1

The wording of your question indicates some confusion on your part, which may take some time to explain and clear up. First of all, the millimeter is a unit of distance. Distance is how far away one point is from another when measured in a straight line. A liter (or milliliter), on the other hand, is a unit of volume, which you can think of as space. Distance and space, although related, are not the same thing. Hence, millimeters cannot be converted to liters, and liters cannot be converted to millimeters. Perhaps you meant cubic millimeters. The cubic millimeter (or millimeter cubed) is a unit of volume, just like the milliliter (or liter, centiliter or deciliter). Imagine a tiny cube that measures one millimeter in length, one millimeter in width, and one millimeter in depth. The space that little cube occupies is a cubic millimeter. That little cube could hold a tiny bit of something, maybe air or water or some other substance. It is possible to convert from cubic millimeters (think that little cube) to milliliters and vice versa, because just like the cubic millimeter, the milliliter is a unit of volume. Second of all, we can't tell whether you should multiply or divide, because we don't know what conversion factor you have in front of you. There are two, which are really the same but are written differently. The one you use will determine whether to multiply or divide. # One milliliter = 1000 cubic millimeters. # One cubic millimeter = 0.001 milliliters. So, here's the rule: If you have an amount in milliliters, multiply it by 1000 (or divide by 0.001) to convert it to cubic millimeters. If your amount is in cubic millimeters, then divide by 1000 (or multiply by 0.001). I would just memorize the first conversion factor and ignore the words in parentheses in the rule above. But I now see that your question asked for converting between cubic millimeters and liters. Here is the conversion factor you should memorize: One liter = 1 000 000 cubic millimeters. In other words, one liter is a million cubic millimeters! So, after you measure the length, width, and height of your container, then multiply those measurements (in millimeters) together to get your volume in cubic millimeters. Then divide that answer by one million to figure out how many liters you have.