Volume Compare

[Please note first]
This app cannot measure anything. It uses no camera.
You type in a volume you already know, and it shows you what holds
about that much. Weights, areas and utility bills are out of scope.

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∛ Volume Compare — how much is that, really?

An 18-litre can is not one tō.
One tō is ten shō, which is 18.039 litres; the can holds 18.
It is 39 mL short, so the can takes only 9.98 shō bottles.
Ten shō by name, and still not ten bottles.

Enter one volume and compare it against 20 everyday containers,
from a teaspoon to a 25 m swimming pool.

■ Two ways to use it

▪ About this much — the containers closest to your volume, smallest first
▪ How many — how many of each your volume comes to

The same 20 entries are used both ways: searched by nearness in one tab,
divided in the other. "What holds 1.8 litres?" and "how many bottles
is an oil drum?" are the same two taps.

■ Twenty containers

A teaspoon, a tablespoon, a glass of water, a Japanese measuring cup,
a 350 mL can, a 500 mL bottle, a 1 L milk carton, a shō bottle,
a 2 L bottle, a bucket, an 18-litre can, a kerosene tank,
a kei car fuel tank, a car fuel tank, one washing machine load,
a home bathtub, an oil drum, a home refrigerator,
one cubic metre and a 25 m swimming pool.

Tap any row to load its volume.

■ A litre is exactly one 10 cm cube

10 by 10 by 10 cm comes to 1,000 cubic centimetres, and one millilitre
is one cubic centimetre, so a litre is exactly 1,000 mL.
A cubic metre is therefore 1,000 litres — three noughts that are easy to lose.

■ Large containers mean nothing until you count them

An oil drum of 200 litres comes to 400 five-hundred-millilitre bottles.
A cubic metre is 1,000 one-litre milk cartons.
A 25 m pool reads 430 m³ (360–500 m³ depending on the pool), and that is one poolful.

■ Fixed sizes, and sizes that vary

The Japanese spoons and cup are 5 mL, 15 mL and 200 mL, so a tablespoon
is exactly 3 teaspoons and a cup comes to 13.3 tablespoons.
A shō bottle reads 1.8 L and an 18-litre can reads 18 L.

Bathtubs and buckets come in no fixed size, so nine of the 20 entries
carry a range as well: 8–12 L for a bucket, 180–200 L for a tub.
The range is shown only for reading; the comparison always uses
the single typical figure.

■ Readable at every scale

The same screen shows 5 mL and 430 m³ (range 360–500 m³).
Each row picks its own unit so the number stays readable.

mL → L → m³

Figures are rounded to three digits: a shō bottle reads 1.8 L and
a 25 m pool 430 m³ (range 360–500 m³). Nothing finer changes how two things compare.

■ Good for

▪ Making sense of a figure in millilitres from a recipe
▪ Putting the size of a container into everyday terms
▪ Explaining volume to a child
▪ Any moment you see a number and wonder whether it is a lot

■ Things worth knowing (included in the app)

▪ An 18-litre can is not one tō: one tō is 18.039 litres, the can holds 18
▪ A litre is exactly one 10 cm cube, so a cubic metre is 1,000 litres
▪ A tablespoon is exactly 3 teaspoons, and a cup 13.3 tablespoons
▪ A row with a range has no fixed size, and it is not a margin of error
▪ Figures are shown to three digits, and the underlying values are finer

■ How the app is built

▪ A single screen. No settings page, no tabs to hunt through
▪ Your last five entries are kept and can be tapped to restore
▪ Japanese and English, following your device language
▪ No account needed. The comparison runs on your device and your figures are never sent anywhere

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Note: all volumes are typical guides and vary with model and conditions.
Only the measuring spoons and cup, the shō bottle, the 18-litre can and
anything sold by a stated capacity are exact. This app cannot measure
anything, and weights, areas and utility bills are out of scope.