A decalitre is a metric unit of volume equal to 10 litres, commonly used in industry, science, and medicine. The metric system uses the liter as the standard unit of volume, but the new international standard measures volume in cubic metres. A decalitre of water has a mass of 10 kilograms, approximately equal to 22 pounds. The word liter has alternative spellings, and two primary abbreviations for decalitre are internationally recognized: dal and dkl.
A decalitre is a metric unit of volume equal to 10 litres. The word is not commonly used in everyday speech, as most measurements of volume are given in the form of litres, cubic centimeters or metres. A decaliter is most common as a unit of measurement in industry, science, and medicine.
The metric system is the standard measurement system used by most of the world. The original metric system, originating in France, used the liter as the standard unit of volume. The new international standard, or SI system, does not officially recognize the liter as a unit and instead measures volume in cubic metres. The litre, however, continues to be accepted for use with the SI standard, although it is not officially part of it. Liters may be used with official SI prefixes and suffixes, and deca is the prefix denoting a multiplier of ten, hence the term decalitre and its meaning.
Water and its mass are intrinsic to the units and measurements of the metric system. One milliliter, or cubic centimeter, of water has a mass of 1 gram. A liter of water therefore has a mass of 1,000 grams, or 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). This means that a decalitre of water has a mass of 10,000 grams or 10 kilograms, which is approximately equal to 22 pounds.
A decalitre, as a unit of volume, is equal to 10 litres, or 10,000 cubic centimetres. Since a cubic centimeter is identical in volume to a milliliter, it can also be said that a decalitre equals 10,000 millilitres. A decalitre is roughly equivalent to 2.6 US standard liquid gallons and 2.2 UK imperial gallons.
The word liter, and therefore decalitre, has alternative spellings. In the United States, liter is the accepted spelling, while in Europe and the rest of the world “litre” is used, resulting in the alternative “decalitre”. Two primary abbreviations for decalitre are internationally recognized. The first is dal and the second is dkl, with the lowercase letter “l” sometimes capitalized, for example daL. The second term derives from two other alternative spellings of decalitre: “dekaliter” and “dekalitre”. These terms and abbreviations are all interchangeable and have the same meaning.
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