Imperial cup to Milliliter

imp cup

1 imp cup

ml

284.130624998822 ml

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Quick Reference Table (Imperial cup to Milliliter)

Imperial cup (imp cup)Milliliter (ml)
0.2571.0326562497055
0.5142.065312499411
1284.130624998822
2568.261249997644
41,136.522499995288
82,273.044999990576

About Imperial cup (imp cup)

The imperial cup is a unit of volume equal to half an imperial pint, approximately 284.1 milliliters. It was historically used in British cooking recipes and is still found in older UK and Commonwealth cookbooks. The imperial cup is distinct from the US legal cup (240 mL) and the Australian metric cup (250 mL). Since the UK's adoption of metric measures, the imperial cup has largely fallen out of use, replaced by milliliters and the 250 mL metric cup.

Older British recipes (pre-1970s) may call for cups measured as imperial cups (~284 mL). A standard UK teacup holds about 1 imperial cup.

About Milliliter (ml)

A milliliter (mL) is one thousandth of a liter (0.001 L), exactly equal to one cubic centimeter (1 cm³). It is the most widely used small volume unit in medicine, cooking, and science. Drug dosages are prescribed in milliliters, soft drink cans are 330 mL, and laboratory pipettes measure in mL. The milliliter bridges the gap between the impractically small microliter and the everyday liter, making it the default unit for liquid measurement in clinical and domestic settings worldwide.

A standard medicine syringe holds 1–20 mL. A teaspoon is approximately 5 mL. A typical espresso shot is 30 mL.

Etymology: From Latin "mille" (thousand) + "liter". The prefix milli- denotes 10⁻³ in the SI system.


Imperial cup – Frequently Asked Questions

One imperial cup equals approximately 284.1 mL — half an imperial pint (568 mL). This is larger than both the US legal cup (240 mL) and the Australian metric cup (250 mL).

The imperial cup is largely obsolete in modern UK cooking, which now uses metric measurements. It may appear in old British recipe books published before the 1970s metric changeover.

An imperial cup (284.1 mL) is about 18% larger than a US legal cup (240 mL). When using old British recipes in the US, 1 imperial cup ≈ 1.18 US cups — worth adjusting in baking.

Modern British recipes use metric measures: milliliters (mL) for liquids and grams (g) for solids. The BBC and major UK food publishers phased out cup measures in favor of grams through the 1970s–1990s.

There are 16 imperial cups in one imperial gallon (8 pints × 2 cups/pint = 16 cups).

Milliliter – Frequently Asked Questions

One US teaspoon equals approximately 4.93 mL, conventionally rounded to 5 mL in cooking and medicine. An Australian/metric teaspoon is exactly 5 mL. A tablespoon is 15 mL (3 teaspoons).

Household teaspoons and tablespoons vary wildly — from 3 to 7 mL for a "teaspoon" depending on the design. A parent dosing 2.5 mL of infant paracetamol with a large decorative spoon might accidentally give double the intended dose. Studies have shown dosing errors of 20–50% when using kitchen cutlery. Calibrated oral syringes (marked in 0.1 mL increments) eliminate this problem entirely, which is why the AAP and WHO both recommend them over any spoon for liquid medications.

A standard soft drink or beer can is typically 330 mL in Europe and 355 mL (12 US fl oz) in the United States. A 500 mL can is common for beer in many markets.

Common oral liquid medications are dosed at 2.5, 5, or 10 mL. Injectable medications may be 0.1–2 mL. IV fluid bags are typically 100, 250, 500, or 1,000 mL.

One US fluid ounce equals approximately 29.57 mL. One imperial (UK) fluid ounce equals approximately 28.41 mL. The two are close but not identical — important for recipes crossing US and UK sources.

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