Converting milliliters to grams is not an easy task. On numerous occasions, in order to follow the instructions of some cooking recipes, we need to convert from milliliters to grams, or vice versa. The answer to this question is not always entirely obvious.
But not only for cooking, but in many tasks of daily life we find ourselves with the obstacle of not knowing the equivalences between grams and milliliters and certain decisions are difficult for us. For example, we go to the supermarket and ask ourselves, is this 300-gram container of milk the same as this other 250-milliliter container? Well, keep reading, and you will be able to answer this question.
Water, convert milliliters to grams
Let’s start with the basics, with water. How many grams are 500 ml of water? Well, very easy, 500 grams. One milliliter of water is exactly equal to one gram of water, and no further calculations are necessary. Converting milliliters to grams, when we refer to water is very simple.
However, do not be fooled, this equality does not hold for the rest of the substances. If not, what’s the point of writing an article about it? Calculating the conversion from milliliters to grams is not as simple as taking a calculator and multiplying or dividing by a coefficient.
It is not as easy to calculate the number of grams contained in 250 ml of milk, flour, butter or any substance other than water. So let’s see why and how we can then calculate how many grams a milliliter of almost anything contains.
The density to calculate milliliters in grams
First, clarify that the conversion from milliliters to grams becomes more complex because we are talking about two different types of measurement units: milliliters express the volume that a liquid occupies, and grams the mass of a solid or liquid. They are two units that express different characteristics, so it is not possible to establish an equality that simplifies the calculation. An x number of milliliters is not equal to 2x number of grams, nor 100x number of grams…or anything like that. So how do you convert, for example, 250 ml of butter into grams ?
In this case we need the help of a third unit of measure that links milliliters to grams. We must resort to another variable that allows us to make the equivalence between volume and mass. What is that unit? The density. What is the density of a substance and how can it help us in the conversion from milliliters to grams?
Density, the variable that will facilitate our calculation, refers to the amount of mass contained in a substance in a given volume. That is, how much space can a substance occupy with a certain mass. Filling a pillow with cotton is not the same as filling it with lead. Which weighs more? Suppose our pillow has a cubic capacity of 5000 ml. Would the number of grams of cotton be the same as the amount of lead needed to fill the pillow? Why, if it is the same volume of space, does one weigh more than the other? Because the density of the substances used to fill are different, and we need more lead mass to fill the pillow than cotton.
From here we draw an important conclusion. Each substance has a different density, so the result of converting milliliters to grams is different depending on the substance we are calculating. Remember, just calculating the water is easy, because how many grams do we need to fill 1 ml? Exactly one gram, and that’s why the conversion is so simple. The density of water is exactly 1g/ml, but this is not the case for all substances.
Find the density of substances
Well, as we have seen, density is the measure that helps us convert milliliters into grams. This unit allows us to link the two units that interest us: milliliters (volume) and grams (mass).
There is no direct conversion method that allows us to say that X number of milliliters is equal to X number of grams. There is no fixed formula that makes it easy for us to calculate, since each substance, be it water, milk, butter, flour, sugar, chocolate… has a different density. That is, you need different amounts of grams of sugar, butter, water, etc., to fill the same one liter container.
Do a mental exercise: how many tablespoons of sugar do you need to fill a one liter bowl? How many butter or how many milk? The result is the same? Of course not, because each of these ingredients has a different density, and the number of grams we need per milliliter varies depending on the substance.
So how do we convert from milliliters to grams?
For this we must know the density of the substance. How to know? There are many resources that can help you find the density of a substance. Some of the most used are those that we can find on the web. If you have a density table handy at home, perfect. However, we know that it is not something very common that we treasure in our homes, so you can find thousands of density tables on the internet that can help you find out the density of the substance you are looking for. Or, you can type in a search engine “density” plus the substance you are looking for, and immediately a result appears with the number we are looking for.
For example, if you search for the density of milk, and you Google “milk density”, numerous results appear with data on the density of milk in g/ml. In this way, you can quickly know that the density of the milk is 1.03 g/ml. You can do the same with any other substance.
Convert milliliters to grams
We already have the density of the substance we are looking for. What is the next step?
As we explained in previous lines, density is the unit of measurement that allows us to calculate milliliters in grams. How? Well, if the density is obtained from the amount of mass that a substance occupies in a given volume, the formula for its calculation is the following: Density = mass/volume. But formulas with division are always more complicated, so we better transform it into a multiplication to make it easier. In this way, the result will also be exactly what we are looking for, the mass, that is, the grams.
If we transform the formula taking into account the data we have and the result we are interested in finding, it would be as follows: Volume x density = mass.
Et voila! We have the formula to convert milliliters to grams.
Calculate milliliters in grams
Let’s do several practice examples. Let’s take that we want to calculate how many grams are 125 ml of milk.
First, we look for the density of the milk with any of the aforementioned resources. Milk has a density of 1.03 g/ml.
We then have the necessary data and it only remains to calculate according to our formula Volume x density = mass.
We calculate 125 x 1.03 = 128.75, so we can conclude that 125 ml of milk is equal to approximately 129 grams.
One last example: 250 ml of butter in grams. We repeat the steps. We are looking for the density of butter: 0.9 g/ml. We calculate according to the formula 250 x 0.9 = 225. We have the result, 250 milliliters of butter is equal to 225 grams of butter.
And you’re all set! Good luck in your calculations!
Tips
- 1 ml of water is exactly equal to 1 g of water
- The density of the milk is 1.03 g/ml
- Butter density is 0.9 g/ml
- 1cm3 is equal to 1 ml