Cubic inch

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Cubic inch
Chevy502CID.jpg
An engine with a swept piston displacement of 502 cubic inches
General information
Unit system Nonstandard
Unit ofvolume
Symbolin3,cu in
Conversions
1 in3in ...... is equal to ...
    SI derived units    16.387  mL
    US customary    1231  US Gallon
   nonstandard   11728  ft3

The cubic inch (symbol in3) is a unit of volume in the Imperial units and United States customary units systems. It is the volume of a cube with each of its three dimensions (length, width, and height) being one inch long which is equivalent to 1/231 of a US gallon. [1]

Contents

The cubic inch and the cubic foot are used as units of volume in the United States, although the common SI units of volume, the liter, milliliter, and cubic meter, are also used, especially in manufacturing and high technology. One cubic inch is approximately 16.387  mL .

One cubic foot is equal to exactly 1,728 cubic inches (28.32 L) because 123 = 1,728.[ citation needed ]

Notation conventions

Equivalence with other units of volume

One cubic inch (assuming an international inch) is equal to:

Uses of the cubic inch

Electrical box volume

The cubic inch was established decades ago in the National Electrical Code as the conventional unit in North America for measuring the volume of electrical boxes. Because of the extensive export of electrical equipment to other countries, some usage of the non-SI unit can be found outside North America.

Engine displacement

North America

The cubic inch was formerly used by the automotive industry and aircraft industry in North America (through the early 1980s) to express the nominal engine displacement for the engines of new automobiles, trucks, aircraft, etc. The cubic inch is still used for this purpose in classic car collecting. The auto industry now uses liters for this purpose, while reciprocating engines used in commercial aircraft often have model numbers based on the cubic inch displacement. The fifth generation Ford Mustang has a Boss 302 version that reflects this heritage - with a five-liter (302 cubic inch) engine similar to the original Boss. Chevrolet has also revived this usage on its 427 Corvette. Dodge has a "Challenger 392" (a conversion from its 6.4 liter V8 engine).

See also

Related Research Articles

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The gallon is a unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States customary units</span> System of units of measurement commonly used in the United States

United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and most U.S. territories, since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system developed from English units that were in use in the British Empire before the U.S. became an independent country. The United Kingdom's system of measures was overhauled in 1824 to create the imperial system, which was officially adopted in 1826, changing the definitions of some of its units. Consequently, while many U.S. units are essentially similar to their imperial counterparts, there are noticeable differences between the systems.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Engine displacement</span> Volume swept by all of the pistons

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pint</span> Unit of volume in the imperial and US systems

The pint is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial and United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is traditionally one eighth of a gallon. The British imperial pint is about 20% larger than the American pint because the two systems are defined differently. Almost all other countries have standardized on the metric system, so although some of them still also have traditional units called pints, the volume varies by regional custom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cubic foot</span> Imperial and US customary (non-metric) unit of volume

The cubic foot is an imperial and US customary (non-metric) unit of volume, used in the United States and the United Kingdom. It is defined as the volume of a cube with sides of one foot in length. Its volume is 28.3168 L.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quart</span> Unit of volume with different values

The quart 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. All are roughly equal to one liter. It is divided into two pints or four cups. Historically, the exact size of the quart has varied with the different values of gallons over time and in reference to different commodities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluid ounce</span> Unit of volume in imperial and US customary

A fluid ounce is a unit of volume typically used for measuring liquids. The British Imperial, the United States customary, and the United States food labeling fluid ounce are the three that are still in common use, although various definitions have been used throughout history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bushel</span> Unit of volume with numerous different definitions

A bushel is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agricultural products, such as wheat. In modern usage, the volume is nominal, with bushels denoting a mass defined differently for each commodity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrel (unit)</span> Series of units for volume measurement

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparison of the imperial and US customary measurement systems</span>

Both the British imperial measurement system and United States customary systems of measurement derive from earlier English unit systems used prior to 1824 that were the result of a combination of the local Anglo-Saxon units inherited from Germanic tribes and Roman units.

Dry measures are units of volume to measure bulk commodities that are not fluids and that were typically shipped and sold in standardized containers such as barrels. They have largely been replaced by the units used for measuring volumes in the metric system and liquid volumes in the imperial system but are still used for some commodities in the US customary system. They were or are typically used in agriculture, agronomy, and commodity markets to measure grain, dried beans, dried and fresh produce, and some seafood. They were formerly used for many other foods, such as salt pork and salted fish, and for industrial commodities such as coal, cement, and lime.

Dimensional weight, also known as volumetric weight, is a pricing technique for commercial freight transport, which uses an estimated weight that is calculated from the length, width and height of a package.

The dry gallon, also known as the corn gallon or grain gallon, is a historic British dry measure of volume that was used to measure grain and other dry commodities and whose earliest recorded official definition, in 1303, was the volume of 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of wheat. It is not used in the US customary system – though it implicitly exists since the US dry measures of bushel, peck, quart, and pint are still used – and is not included in the National Institute of Standards and Technology handbook that many US states recognize as the authority on measurement law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial and US customary measurement systems</span> English (pre 1824), Imperial (post 1824) and US Customary (post 1776) units of measure

The imperial and US customary measurement systems are both derived from an earlier English system of measurement which in turn can be traced back to Ancient Roman units of measurement, and Carolingian and Saxon units of measure.

The quarter was used as the name of several distinct English units based on ¼ sizes of some base unit.

The Exchequer Standards may refer to the set of official English standards for weights and measures created by Queen Elizabeth I, and in effect from 1588 to 1825, when the Imperial units system took effect, or to the whole range of English unit standards maintained by the Court of the Exchequer from the 1200s, or to the physical reference standards physically kept at the Exchequer and used as the legal reference until the such responsibility was transferred in the 1860s, after the Imperial system had been established.

References

  1. 1 2 IEEE Standard Letter Symbols for Units of Measurement (SI Customary Inch-Pound Units, and Certain Other Units) (Technical report). IEEE. 2004. 260.1-2004.