Convert kilograms of a liquid to US or UK gallons (or back) using its density. Covers honey, syrups, oils, glycols, alcohols and liquid fertilizer, or enter the density from a data sheet.
Gallons = kg ÷ density (kg/L) ÷ litres per gallon
Rounded; 0.998 at 20 °C
US gallons. 25 kg is a common pail or jerrycan weight for oils, syrups and chemicals, and a tonne (1,000 kg) is how bulk liquids are often quoted.
| Liquid | kg/L | Gal per kg | Gal per 25 kg | Gal per tonne |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 1 | 0.264 | 6.6 | 264 |
| Vegetable oil (soybean, canola) | 0.92 | 0.287 | 7.18 | 287 |
| Honey | 1.42 | 0.186 | 4.65 | 186 |
| Maple syrup | 1.33 | 0.199 | 4.97 | 199 |
| Glycerin (glycerol) | 1.26 | 0.21 | 5.24 | 210 |
| Antifreeze concentrate (ethylene glycol) | 1.11 | 0.238 | 5.95 | 238 |
| Isopropyl alcohol (99%) | 0.786 | 0.336 | 8.4 | 336 |
| UAN 28% liquid fertilizer | 1.28 | 0.206 | 5.16 | 206 |
For anything not in the list, look in section 9 ("Physical and chemical properties") of the product's safety data sheet. It gives one of three figures, and all of them work in the converter:
If the sheet gives a range (1.10–1.15, say), use the midpoint for planning and the upper value when checking a container's weight limit.
A beekeeper extracts 40 kg of honey and wants to know how many 5-gallon food-grade pails to have ready. (This is the calculator's Load Example.)
Step 1: Kilograms to litres (honey ≈ 1.42 kg/L)
Step 2: Litres to US gallons
Step 3: How much a full pail holds
That's two pails: one full and one about half full. A full pail of honey weighs almost 60 lb, so many beekeepers fill pails only part way to keep them manageable.
Container capacity is a volume, so the weight it holds depends on the liquid. Brim-full figures are below. Real fills are a few percent less to leave room for expansion, and IBC totes also carry a maximum specific gravity rating, so a tote that is fine for water may not be rated for a full load of honey or fertilizer.
| Container | Volume | Litres | kg water | kg oil | kg honey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-gallon pail | 5 US gal | 19 | 19 | 17 | 27 |
| 55-gallon drum | 55 US gal | 208 | 208 | 192 | 296 |
| 1,000 L IBC tote | 264 US gal | 1,000 | 1,000 | 920 | 1,420 |
| 275-gallon IBC tote | 275 US gal | 1,041 | 1,041 | 958 | 1,478 |
| 330-gallon IBC tote | 330 US gal | 1,249 | 1,249 | 1,149 | 1,774 |
Liquid fertilizer, syrups and industrial fluids are often invoiced by weight but stored, pumped and applied by volume. UAN 28% is a good example: it is sold by the ton but sprayed in gallons per acre.
Fertilizer density changes with temperature and the exact blend, so use the figure on your supplier's data sheet when the gallons matter for application rates.
For water, 0.264 US gallons (1 litre). Anything denser than water, such as honey or glycerin, gives fewer gallons per kg, and anything lighter, such as oil or alcohol, gives more.
About 7.2 US gallons of vegetable oil at 0.92 kg/L (25 ÷ 0.92 = 27.2 L). A 25 kg jerrycan of oil therefore holds a little over 27 litres.
Use the gallon your container or invoice uses. A UK gallon is about 20% bigger (4.546 L against 3.785 L), so the same 100 kg of water is 26.4 US gallons but 22.0 UK gallons.
Only with its bulk density, which depends on how loosely it is packed and is usually much lower than the solid material's density. Weigh a known volume of the powder and enter that figure as "Other".
Related Tools
Convert between hundreds of cubic feet and gallons.
Estimate material weight from volume and density.
Estimate weight in pounds using ingredient density.
Estimate liquid volume from a drop count.
Convert gallons to other volume units.
Convert liquid volume to weight using density.