US Pints and US Fluid Ounces Converter
What Are Imperial Units Of Volume
The USA, alongside a few other countries in the world, uses imperial units of measurement, which are all defined based on various definitions, mostly of historical origin, based on trade and tradition.
When it comes to the volume, more specifically the volume of fluids, the situation becomes a little more complex, as the US uses so-called customary units, which are a mix of their own commonly accepted units of volume measurement, alongside some imperial units, although often with a slightly varied definition.
The following US customary units of volume can be used:
| Imperial | Imperial equivalent | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| A minim | the equivalent of a drop of water | about 0.1 ml |
| US fluid dram | an equivalent of 3.7 ml | 60 minims |
| A teaspoon | an equivalent of 80 mins | 5 ml |
| A tablespoon | an equivalent of 3 teaspoons | 15 ml |
| A US fluid Ounce | an equivalent of 2 tablespoons | 30 ml |
| A US jig (an equivalent of a shot glass) | 3 tablespoons | 45 ml |
| A US gill | 4 fluid Ounces | 120 ml |
| A US cup | 2 gills | 240 ml |
| A US pint | 2 cups | 480 ml |
| A US quart | 2 pints | 960 ml |
| A US gallon | 4 quarts | 3.8 L |
| A US barrel | 31.5 gallons | 119 L |
| A hogshead | 2 barrels | 238 L |
It is true, that some of the units mentioned above are archaic or used only in specific contexts, while others are more commonly accepted.
Converting US Pints And US Fluid Ounces
When we decide to convert between the 2 very commonly used units of US pints and US fluid Ounces, we need to know the conversion rates. We can look at the above-mentioned list and see the following.
| Unit | Equivalent |
|---|---|
| US fluid Ounce | 2 tablespoons |
| US pint | 2 cups |
We can now try to work our way to the conversion between US fluid Ounces and US pints through the conversion rate of cups and tablespoons.
We see that a cup is equivalent to 2 gills, while a gill is equivalent to 4 fluid Ounces. This means, that a cup is equivalent to 2×4 = 8 fluid Ounces.
That also means, that the pint, consisting of 2 cups, is equal to 2×8 = 16 fluid Ounces.
Hence, we can create the following 2 formulae, where the subject of each determines the output value.
FL ~OZ = PINTS * 16
PINTS = FL ~OZ \div 16
Worked-out Example
We will present 2 examples, one for converting from fluid Ounces, while the other for converting from pints.
EXAMPLE 1
A juice is sold in containers sized at 20 fl Oz. What is the volume in pints?
We use the second equation and substitute 20 fl Oz.
PINTS = FL ~OZ \div 16 \\= 20 \div 16 = 1.25 ~pints.
EXAMPLE 2
A small lawn mover has a gasoline capacity of 0.7 pints. What is the capacity in fl Oz?
We use the first equation and substitute 0.7 for PINTS.
FL ~OZ = PINTS * 16 \\= 0.7 * 16 = 11.2 ~fl ~Oz.