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Quart

Unit of volume with different values From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The quart (symbol: qt)[1] is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon. Three kinds of quarts are currently used: the liquid quart and dry quart of the US customary system and the imperial quart of the British imperial system. It is divided into two pints or (in the US) four cups. Historically, the size of a quart has varied with the different values of gallons over time, and in the case of the dry quart, in reference to different commodities.

UnitofVolume
Symbolqt
SI-compatible units   1.1365225 L
US customary units   ≈ 1.200950 US qt
Quick facts General information, Unit of ...
Quart
One-quart milk jugs (top shelf); half-gallon (two-quart) milk jugs (bottom shelf)
General information
Unit ofVolume
Symbolqt
Conversions (imperial)
1 imp qt in ...... is equal to ...
   SI-compatible units   1.1365225 L
   US customary units   ≈ 1.200950 US qt
   US customary units   ≈ 69.354858 in3
Conversions (US)
1 US qt in ...... is equal to ...
   SI-compatible units    0.946352946 L
   Imperial units   ≈ 0.8326742 imp qt
   Imperial units   57.75 in3
   US dry quarts   ⁠92400/107521⁠ dry qt
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Name

The term comes from the Latin quartus (meaning one-quarter) via the French quart. However, although the French word quart has the same root, it frequently means something entirely different. In Canadian French in particular, the quart is called pinte,[2] while the pint is called chopine.[2]

History

Since gallons of various sizes have historically been in use, the corresponding quarts have also existed with various sizes.

Definitions and equivalencies

Imperial quart

The imperial quart is equal to one-quarter of an imperial gallon of exactly 4.54609 L, i.e. 1.1365225 L. In the United Kingdom, goods may be sold by the quart if the equivalent metric measure is also given.[3]

1 imperial quart ≡ ⁠1/4⁠imperial gallon
≡ 2imperial pints
≡ 8imperial gills
≡ 40imperial fluid ounces
≡ 1.1365225liters[4][a]
≈ 69.354858cubic inches
≈ 0.3002375US gallons
≈ 1.20095US liquid quarts
≈ 2.4019US liquid pints
≈ 9.6076US gills
≈ 38.4304US fluid ounces
≈ 1.0320567US dry quarts
≈ 2.0641135US dry pints

In Canadian French, by federal law, the imperial quart is called pinte.[5][2]

US liquid quart

In the United States, traditional length and volume measures have been legally standardized for commerce by the international yard and pound agreement of 1959, using the definition of 1 yard being 0.9144 meters: from this definition the metric equivalents for inches, feet, miles, area measures, and measures of volume are determined. The US liquid quart is equal to one-quarter of a gallon of exactly 231 cubic inches, i.e. 57.75 cubic inches or 0.946352946 L.[6][7]

1 US liquid quart ≡ ⁠1/4⁠US gallon
≡ 2US liquid pints
≡ 4US cups
≡ 8US gills
≡ 32US fluid ounces
≡ 0.946352946liters[7][8]
≡ 57.75cubic inches[9]
≈ 0.2081685imperial gallons
≈ 0.8326742imperial quarts
≈ 1.6653484imperial pints
≈ 6.6613935imperial gills
≈ 33.3069674imperial fluid ounces
≡ ⁠92400/107521⁠US dry quart
≡ 1⁠77279/107521⁠US dry pints

US dry quart

In the United States, the dry quart is equal to ⁠1/32⁠ of a US bushel of exactly 2150.42 cubic inches, i.e. 67.200625 cubic inches or 1.101220942715 L.

1 US dry quart ≡ ⁠1/32⁠US bushel
≡ ⁠1/8⁠US peck
≡ 2US dry pints
≡ 1.101220942715liters[7][8]
≡ 67.200625cubic inches
≡ ⁠107521/369600⁠US gallon
≡ 1⁠15121/92400⁠US liquid quarts
≡ 2⁠15121/46200⁠US liquid pints
≡ 9⁠3571/11550⁠US gills
≡ 37⁠1367/5775⁠US fluid ounces
≈ 0.2422347imperial gallons
≈ 0.968939imperial quarts
≈ 1.9378779imperial pints
≈ 7.7515118imperial gills
≈ 38.7575589imperial fluid ounces

Winchester quart

The Winchester quart is an obsolescent measure:[10] it was originally equal to two imperial quarts (half of an imperial gallon) or exactly 2.273045 L, but was later metricated to 2.5 L (2.2 imperial quarts). Despite its name, it is unrelated to the Winchester measure.[11]

The 2.5 L bottles in which laboratory chemicals are supplied are sometimes referred to as Winchester quart bottles, although these contain 10% more than a traditional Winchester quart.

Reputed quart

The reputed quart was a measure equal to two-thirds of an imperial quart (or one-sixth of an imperial gallon), i.e. exactly 0.7576816 liters: this is only 0.08% larger than one US fifth (exactly 0.7570823568 liters).

The reputed quart was previously recognized as the standard size of wine bottle in the United Kingdom, and is only about 1% larger than the current standard wine bottle of 0.75 L.[12][13]

Notes

  1. This has been the exact conversion since the redefinition of the imperial gallon in 1976 in the UK,[4] and in 1964 in Canada.

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