Converting Milliliters to Liters

Milliliters (mL) and liters (L) are two common units of volume. This example problem demonstrates how to convert milliliters to liters.

Problem

A soda can holds 350 ml of liquid. If someone were to pour 20 soda cans of water into a bucket, how many liters of water are transferred to the bucket?

Solution

First, find the total volume of the water.
Total volume in ml = 20 cans x 350 ml/can
Total volume in ml = 7000 ml

Second, convert ml to L:
1 L = 1000 ml

Set up the conversion so the desired unit will be cancelled out. In this case, we want L to be the remaining unit.
volume in L = (volume in ml) x (1 L/1000 ml)
volume in L = (7000/1000) L
volume in L = 7 L

Answer

7 liters of water was poured into the bucket.