To answer this question, you need to understand concepts such as “liter” and “cube”. But for those who do not intend to read the article to the end, the answer to the question "How many liters are in a cube or in 1 meter cubic?" will be unequivocal - 1000 liters. Now everything is in order.
What is a liter? A liter is a unit of measure. In the Russian Federation, GOST 8.417-2002 applies, which establishes the notation, gives definitions and describes how to use units of physical quantities. The document lists the basic units of measurement according to the SI International System and derivatives thereof. The main one is the meter. This is the path traveled in a vacuum by light for a period of time that is 1/299792458 seconds. Quantities such as area or volume are measured in derived units: square meter (m2) and cubic meter (m3). Table 6 of GOST 8.414-2002 lists the units of measurement that are not part of the SI system and are allowed for use without restrictions. Non-systemic units also include liter (l). It is used to measure physical quantities such as volume or capacity. 1 liter = 1 dm³ = 10-3 m³. Thus, it is possible to calculate how many liters in a cube of water. Since 1 m contains 10 dm and 1 m³ = 1 m • 1 m • 1 m, then 1 m³ = 10 dm • 10 dm • 10 dm = 1000 dm³ = 1000 l.
With the word "cube", descended from the Greek "kybos", the situation is more complicated, since it has several semantic meanings.
- It denotes a geometric body, which is a regular polyhedron - a hexahedron, each face (there are only six) of which is a square. If the side of the square is 1 m, then such a body occupies a volume equal to 1 m³ or 1000 l. But if the side of the face is different, for example, 3 m, then to the question "How many liters are there in a cube?" the answer will be different. Such a polyhedron occupies a volume of 3 m • 3 m • 3 m = 9 m³ = 9000 liters.
- The spoken "cube" should be understood as a volume equal to 1 meter cubic. It is used, for example, to estimate the amount of excavated soil or the volume of pumped liquid. If you ask: “How many liters is a cube of water?”, In this case the answer follows from GOST 8.417-2002, which determines the ratio of units, that is, a cube of water is 1 m³ = 1000 l.
- In mathematics, the word "cube" denotes the degree of a number that must be multiplied by itself three times. In this case, the question "How many liters in a cube?" inappropriate.
- In a number of production processes (for example, in the power industry, the chemical industry) and in everyday life, the word “cube” can mean an apparatus in which liquid is boiled for its evaporation or distillation (distillation). These devices most often have a shape different from the regular polyhedron (hexahedron). Usually they are cylindrical. How in this case to calculate how many liters in a cube? Using the ratio of units, you need to multiply the known volume of the device in cubic meters by 1000, as a result, its volume in liters will be obtained.
To recalculate the volume expressed by other units, for example, cubic centimeters, kilometers or millimeters, you should again return to GOST 8.417-2002. More precisely, to his table No. 7, which describes the rules for the formation of designations and names of decimal multiple and fractional units of physical quantities included in the SI system. For these purposes, prefixes are used (there are 20 in total in the table), which correspond to decimal factors. When a particular prefix is added to the main unit (for example, iota, pet, gig, kilo, soundboard, santi, milli and others), it becomes clear by which decimal factor the main value should be multiplied in order to get a multiple unit of measurement.
The prefix “kilo” corresponds to a factor of 10³ (or 1000). Santi - 10² (or 100). Milli - 10-³ (or 1/1000). As an example, you can calculate how many liters are in a cube (regular polyhedron), the side of which is 0.3 kilometers (km), 3 centimeters (cm) or 3 millimeters (mm).
- For the first case: 0.3 km • 0.3 km • 0.3 km = 0.009 km³. Since 1 km = 1000 m, then 0.009 km³ = 9000000 m³ = 9000000000 l.
- For the second case: 3 cm • 3 cm • 3 cm = 9 cm³. Since 1 cm = 1/100 m, then 9 cm³ = 0.000009 m³ = 0.009 l. For such volumes, a unit of measure, usually called milliliter (ml), equal to 1 cm³ or 10-³ l is usually used.
- For the third case: 3 mm • 3 mm • 3 mm = 9 mm³. Since 1 mm = 1/1000 m, then 9 mm³ = 0.000000009 m³ = 0.000009 l. It is inconvenient to carry out any actions with such numbers, so they use a unit of measurement called a microliter (μl), which is 10-³ ml or 10-6 liters.
Obviously, for the correct answer to the question "How many liters are there in a cube?" or for any translation of units of measure it is necessary to use the interstate standard GOST 8.417-2002 (adopted by ten CIS member countries). The presence in his designation of the number eight with a dot indicates his belonging to metrology (a science that ensures the unity of measurements and achieves the necessary accuracy). For information: standards, the designation of which is the number twelve with a dot, contain requirements for ensuring safe working conditions.