| gallon | |
| Quantity: | Volume |
| Symbol: | gal |
| Units Imp1: | Non-SI units accepted for use with SI |
| Inunits Imp1: | 1sigfig=6NaNsigfig=6 |
| Units Imp2: | US customary units |
| Inunits Imp2: | ≈1sigfig=7NaNsigfig=7 |
| Units Imp3: | US customary units |
| Inunits Imp3: | ≈1sigfig=8NaNsigfig=8 |
| Units Us1: | Non-SI units |
| Inunits Us1: | 1sigfig=10NaNsigfig=10 |
| Units Us2: | Imperial units |
| Inunits Us2: | ≈1sigfig=7NaNsigfig=7 |
| Units Us3: | Imperial units |
| Inunits Us3: | 1sigfig=3NaNsigfig=3 |
The gallon is a unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units.
The imperial gallon (imp gal) is defined as, and is or was used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Malaysia and some Caribbean countries, while the US gallon (US gal) is defined as 231in3,[1] and is used in the United States and some Latin American and Caribbean countries.
There are four gills in a pint, two pints in a quart, and four quarts (quarter gallons) in a gallon, with the imperial gill being divided into five imperial fluid ounces and the US gill being divided into four US fluid ounces: this, and a slight difference in the sizes of the imperial fluid ounce and the US fluid ounce, give different sizes for the imperial gallon and US gallon.
The IEEE standard symbol for both the imperial and US gallons is gal,[2] not to be confused with the gal (symbol: Gal), a CGS unit of acceleration.
The gallon currently has two definitions, in the imperial system and in the US customary system.
Historically, there were many definitions and redefinitions: see for details.
The British imperial gallon (frequently called simply "gallon") is defined as exactly 4.54609 litres.[3] It is used in Britain and some other Commonwealth countries, and until 1976 was defined as the volume of water at [4] [5] whose mass is 10lb.
There are four imperial quarts in a gallon, two imperial pints in a quart, and 20 imperial fluid ounces in an imperial pint,[3] making an imperial fluid ounce of an imperial gallon.
The US gallon (frequently called simply "gallon") is legally defined as exactly 231 cubic inches, i.e. 231in3.[6] [7]
A US gallon contains of water at, making it % of an imperial gallon. There are four quarts in a gallon, two pints in a quart and 16 US fluid ounces in a US pint, making the US fluid ounce of a US gallon.
In order to overcome the effects of expansion and contraction with temperature when using a gallon to specify a quantity of material for purposes of trade, it is common to define the temperature at which the material will occupy the specified volume. For example, the volume of petroleum products[8] and alcoholic beverages[9] are both referenced to in government regulations.
The imperial gallon continues to be used as the standard petrol unit in four British Overseas Territories (Anguilla,[10] the British Virgin Islands,[11] [12] the Cayman Islands,[13] and Montserrat),[14] [15] and four countries (Antigua and Barbuda,[16] Grenada,[17] Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines).
All eight of these Caribbean territories use miles per hour for speed limits signage and drive on the left side of the road.
The United Arab Emirates ceased selling petrol by the imperial gallon in 2010 and switched to the litre, with Guyana following suit in 2013.[18] [19] [20] The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority switched Dubai's water billing from imperial gallons to cubic metres in March 2025.[21]
In 2014, Myanmar switched from the imperial gallon to the litre.[22]
Antigua and Barbuda has proposed switching to selling petrol by litres since 2015.[16] [23]
In the European Union, the gallon was removed from the list of legally defined primary units of measure catalogue in the EU directive 80/181/EEC for trading and official purposes, effective from 31 December 1994. Under the directive the gallon could still be used, but only as a supplementary or secondary unit.[24]
As a result of the EU directive, Ireland and the United Kingdom passed legislation to replace the gallon with the litre as a primary unit of measure in trade and in the conduct of public business, effective from 31 December 1993 and 30 September 1995, respectively.[25] [26] [27] [28] Though the gallon has ceased to be a primary unit of trade, it can still be legally used in both the UK and Ireland as a supplementary unit. However, barrels and large containers of beer, oil and other fluids are commonly measured in multiples of an imperial gallon.
Miles per imperial gallon is used as the primary fuel economy unit in the United Kingdom and as a supplementary unit in Canada on official documentation.[29] [30] [31]
Petrol is sold by the US gallon in four US territories (American Samoa,[32] the Northern Mariana Islands,[33] Guam,[34] and the US Virgin Islands.[35]) and in six countries:
Both the imperial gallon and the US gallon are used in the Turks and Caicos Islands, due to an increase in tax duties which was disguised by levying the same duty on the US gallon (3.79 L) as was previously levied on the imperial gallon (4.55 L),[37] and the Bahamas.[38] [39]
In some parts of the Middle East, such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, 18.9-litre water cooler bottles are marketed as five-gallon bottles.[40]
Both the US gallon and imperial gallon are divided into four quarts (quarter gallons), which in turn are divided into two pints, which in turn are divided into two cups (not in customary use outside the US), which in turn are further divided into two gills. Thus, both gallons are equal to four quarts, eight pints, or thirty-two gills.
There is a difference in that the imperial gill is divided into five fluid ounces, whereas the US gill is divided into four fluid ounces: this means that an imperial fluid ounce is of an imperial pint or of an imperial gallon, while a US fluid ounce is of a US pint or of a US gallon.
As an imperial fluid ounce is % of a US fluid ounce, this means that one imperial gallon, quart, pint, cup and gill are all equal to of their US counterparts.
Historically, a common bottle size for liquor in the US was the "fifth", i.e. one-fifth of a US gallon (or 0.08% more than a "reputed quart", one-sixth of an imperial gallon). While spirit sales in the US were switched to metric measures in 1976, a 750 mL bottle is still sometimes known as a "fifth".[41] [42]
The US dry gallon was defined as one-eighth of a US Winchester bushel of exactly cubic inches, i.e. 268.8025 cubic inches or .[43]
The US dry gallon is no longer used, and is no longer included in the relevant statute, which goes from the dry quart to the peck.[44]
The term derives most immediately from galun, galon in Old Norman French,[45] but the usage was common in several languages, for example French, Old (842-ca.1400);: jale in Old French and English, Old (ca.450-1100);: gęllet (bowl) in Old English. This suggests a common origin in Romance Latin, but the ultimate source of the word is unknown.[46] Gallonage is the term used for a capacity or amount measured in gallons.
The gallon originated as the basis of systems for measuring wine and beer in England. The sizes of gallon used in these two systems were different from each other: the first was based on the wine gallon (equal in size to the US gallon), and the second was based on the ale gallon (1.65% larger than the imperial gallon).
By the end of the 18th century, there were three definitions of the gallon in common use:
The corn or dry gallon was used in the United States for grain and other dry commodities until the 1990s. It was one-eighth of the (Winchester) bushel, originally defined as a cylindrical measure of inches in diameter and 8 inches in depth, which made the bushel . The bushel was later redefined to be 2,150.42 cubic inches exactly, thus making its gallon exactly ; in previous centuries, there had been a corn gallon of between 271 and 272 cubic inches.
The wine gallon was legally adopted as the standard US gallon in 1836. Some sources relate this to the volume occupied by eight medieval merchants' pounds of wine: this was at one time defined as the volume of a cylinder 6 inches deep and 7 inches in diameter, i.e. . It was redefined in 1706 during the reign of Queen Anne as being exactly, the earlier definition with being approximated as .
Although the wine gallon had been used for centuries for import duty purposes, there was no legal standard of it in the Exchequer, and a smaller gallon of was actually in use, which required this statute to resolve these issues: remains the definition of a gallon in the US today.
In 1824, Britain adopted the imperial gallon, and abolished all other gallons in favour of it. The imperial gallon was defined as the volume of 10 pounds of distilled water weighed in air with brass weights with the barometer standing at 30abbr=offNaNabbr=off and at a temperature of, which was calculated as (or to ten significant figures).
This value lasted until 1889, when an Order in Council of November 28 of that year redefined the imperial gallon as (or to ten significant figures).
In 1963, the definition was again refined as the space occupied by 10 pounds of distilled water of density weighed in air of density against weights of density (the original "brass" was refined as the densities of brass alloys vary depending on metallurgical composition), which was calculated as (≈ ) to ten significant figures.[4]
The definition of exactly cubic decimetres (also or ≈ ) came after the litre was redefined in 1964: this value was adopted shortly afterwards in Canada, and was adopted in 1976 in the United Kingdom.[4]
Historically, gallons of various sizes were used in many parts of Western Europe. In these localities, it has been replaced as the unit of capacity by the litre.
| Volume | Definition | Inverted volume (gal/cu ft) | Weight as water at (pounds/gal) | Cylindrical approximation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (cu in) | (dm3) | Diameter (in) | Height (in) | Volume rel. error (%) | ||||
| Current gallons | ||||||||
| 231 | Statute of 5 Queen Anne (1706) UK wine gallon US gallon (legally adopted 1836 US) | 8.3454 | 7 | 6 | 0.04 | |||
| ≈ 277.41943 | Imperial gallon (adopted 1964 Canada, adopted 1976 UK) | 6.2288 | 10.0224 | 11 | ||||
| Historic gallons | ||||||||
| 216 (Roman unciae) | Roman congius | 8 | 7.8035 | 5 | 11 | 0.01 | ||
| 217 | Irish gallon (1495, re-confirmed 1736) | 7 | 7.8396 | 5.25 | 10 | 0.24 | ||
| 224 | Preserved at the Guildhall, London (old UK wine gallon) | 7 | 8.0925 | 9 | 3.5 | 0.6 | ||
| ≈ 241.3549 | Jersey gallon (1562) | 7.1596 | 8.7195 | 6.5 | 7.25 | 0.32 | ||
| ≈ 260.3235 | Guernsey gallon (17th-century origins until 1917) | 6.6379 | 9.4048 | 5 | 13.25 | 0.06 | ||
| 264.8 | Ancient Rumford quart (1228) | 6 | 9.5665 | 7.5 | 6 | 0.1 | ||
| 265.5 | Exchequer (Henry VII, 1497, with rim) | 6 | 9.5918 | 13 | 2 | 0.01 | ||
| 266.25 | Ancient Rumford (1228) | 6 | 9.6189 | 5.5 | 11.25 | 0.39 | ||
| 268.4 | Henry VII (Winchester) corn gallon (1497) | 6 | 9.6966 | 6 | 9.5 | 0.08 | ||
| 268.8025 | Winchester, statute of 13 & 14 William III Corn gallon US dry gallon (no longer used, no longer listed in the relevant statute) | 6 | 9.7111 | 18.5 | 1 | |||
| 270 | Elizabeth I corn gallon (1601) | 6.4 | 9.7544 | 5 | 13.75 | 0.0072 | ||
| 271 | Exchequer (1601, E.) (old corn gallon) | 6 | 9.7905 | 4.5 | 17 | 0.23 | ||
| 272 | William III corn gallon (1688) | 6 | 9.8266 | 6 | 9.625 | 0.05 | ||
| Statute of 12 Anne (coal gallon), also equal to corn gallons | 6.2337 | 10.0146 | 11 | 0.08 | ||||
| 277.274 | Imperial gallon, as originally determined in 1824 | 6.2321 | 10.0172 | 11 | 0.05 | |||
| ≈ 277.41955 | Imperial gallon as re-determined in 1895 and defined in 1963 | 6.2288 | 10.0224 | 11 | ||||
| 277.463 | Imperial gallon as defined by Order in Council of 28 November 1889 | 6.2279 | 10.024 | 11 | 0.015 | |||
| 278 | Exchequer (Henry VII, with copper rim) | 6 | 10.0434 | 4.5 | 17.5 | 0.12 | ||
| 278.4 | Exchequer (1601 and 1602 pints) | 6 | 10.0578 | 7 | 7.25 | 0.22 | ||
| 280 | Exchequer (1601 quart) | 6 | 10.1156 | 5 | 14.25 | 0.07 | ||
| 282 | Treasury (beer and ale gallon pre-1824) | 6 | 10.1879 | 6.5 | 8.5 | 0.02 | ||
