Convert cm³ to in³ cubic centimetres ↔ cubic inches Free Online Secure
Type a value in cubic centimetres and read it in cubic inches at once. The factor is exact by definition, the arithmetic happens in your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
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Common values — Convert cm³ to in³ (cubic centimetres ↔ cubic inches)
| cm³ | in³ |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.0610237440947 |
| 2 | 0.122047488189 |
| 3 | 0.183071232284 |
| 5 | 0.305118720474 |
| 10 | 0.610237440947 |
| 20 | 1.22047488189 |
| 50 | 3.05118720474 |
| 100 | 6.10237440947 |
Where these units come from
The litre has an awkward history. From 1901 it was defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water at its densest, which sounds elegant but came out at 1.000028 cubic decimetres — close enough to be confusing and far enough to spoil careful work. In 1964 the definition was abandoned and the litre became exactly one cubic decimetre, which it has been ever since. The gallon has a messier story still: the US gallon descends from the English wine gallon of 231 cubic inches, while Britain redefined its own in 1824 as the volume of ten pounds of water. Nobody reconciled the two, so a US gallon is 3.785411784 litres and an imperial gallon 4.54609 — about a fifth larger. The gallon, pint, cup, fluid ounce and spoons on this page are the US ones.
Where you meet them
Millilitres and litres run through daily life almost invisibly: bottles, fuel, paint, dosage, the capacity of a kettle. Cubic metres belong to water bills, concrete, shipping and the air a ventilation system has to move. Cubic centimetres name engine displacement, cubic feet appear in freight and in appliance capacities, and cups and spoons live almost entirely in recipes — which is exactly where the difference between a US cup and a metric one quietly ruins a cake.
Questions people ask
What does cc mean on an engine?
It stands for cubic centimetres, the same as cm³, and it states the engine's displacement: the total volume swept by its pistons. A 1600 cc engine is a 1.6 litre engine. The figure is a measure of size and not of power, since two engines of the same displacement can differ greatly in output.
How do cubic inches relate to engine size?
A cubic inch is exactly 16.387064 millilitres, so 61 cubic inches is almost exactly a litre. American engines were long described in cubic inches: a 350 is about 5.7 litres. The figure states displacement, the total volume swept by the pistons, and not the power of the engine.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
Batteries, balls and rock samples: small volumes in cubic inches
A lithium cell, a golf ball and a mineral specimen all have volumes that a scientist writes in cubic centimetres and an American hobbyist in cubic inches. To convert cm³ to in³ you multiply by 0.0610237. An 18650 battery of 16.5 cm³ therefore takes up 1.01 in³, a golf ball of 40.7 cm³ takes up 2.48 in³, and a tennis ball of 157 cm³ takes up 9.6 in³. This page multiplies as you type, and the text below shows what those small volumes mean for energy density, weight, packaging and everyday objects.
Ahead you will find the rule with examples, a note on each unit, a comparison, a tour of situations from battery packs to the science fair, and the slips that cause wrong answers. All arithmetic happens in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
How to convert cm³ to in³: multiply by 0.0610237
The rule
One cubic centimetre equals 0.0610237441 cubic inches. To convert cm³ to in³, multiply the cubic centimetres by 0.0610237, or by 0.061 for a quick figure. So 10 cm³ is 0.61 in³, 100 cm³ is 6.10 in³, 250 cm³ is 15.3 in³ and 1,000 cm³ is 61.0 in³. In the other direction, multiply cubic inches by 16.387064.
Worked examples
A phone of 150 by 72 by 8 mm has 86.4 cm³, which is 5.27 in³. A Rubik's cube of 57 mm has 185 cm³, 11.3 in³. A 2.5 inch SSD of 100 by 70 by 7 mm has 49 cm³, 2.99 in³. For a quick estimate, divide by 16.4: 330 cm³ is about 20 in³, against 20.14 exactly.
Why not 0.3937
The figure 0.3937 turns centimetres into inches. A volume multiplies three lengths, so the factor is 0.3937 cubed, which is 0.0610. Using the length factor on a volume leaves you about 6.5 times too high.
A quick sanity check
The cubic inch is the larger unit, so the number must shrink by roughly a factor of 16. If your “convert cm³ to in³” calculation result shrank by only two or three times, you used the length factor.
The cubic centimetre
A cube one centimetre on a side
The cubic centimetre is exactly one millilitre, written cm³ or, in common speech, cc. It is the usual unit for samples, small components and any volume you can hold between finger and thumb.
Where it appears
Laboratory work, material data sheets, product dimensions, medicine and school science.
The cubic inch
An inch by an inch by an inch
The cubic inch is 16.387 cm³. It is the small-volume unit of United States hobby catalogues, machine shops and product specifications, and it survives in energy density and material tables from American suppliers.
Where it appears
Parts catalogues, hobby engines, casting and packaging specifications, and American textbooks.
Cubic centimetre and cubic inch compared
A cubic inch holds about 16.4 cubic centimetres. Small objects therefore have modest figures in cubic inches, and a half-pint of milk, 284 cm³, comes to only 17.3 in³. Anyone reading an American catalogue next to a European one has to keep this ratio of sixteen in mind.
The factor is not round, so mental estimates are approximate: dividing by 16.4 is good to about a fraction of a percent. For exact work use 0.0610237441 one way and 16.387064 the other.
Where the conversion appears
Battery cells
An 18650 cell, 18 mm across and 65 mm long, has a volume of 16.5 cm³, 1.01 in³. An AA cell, 14.5 by 50.5 mm, has 8.34 cm³, 0.51 in³. With 3,000 mAh at 3.6 V, an 18650 stores 10.8 Wh, which works out at about 650 Wh per litre, or 10.7 Wh per cubic inch. When you convert cm³ to in³ for a pack, you can compare its density with American data sheets.
Sports balls
A ping-pong ball of 40 mm has 33.5 cm³, 2.04 in³. A golf ball of 42.67 mm has 40.7 cm³, 2.48 in³. A billiard ball of 57.15 mm has 97.7 cm³, 5.96 in³. A tennis ball of 67 mm has 157 cm³, 9.6 in³. These make easy mental benchmarks for small volumes.
Phones and drives
A phone of 5.3 in³ has the volume of 86 cm³, close to a small bar of soap. A 2.5 inch SSD of 49 cm³ is just under 3 in³. Designers compare the volume of components when they plan how much room a device needs, and they convert cm³ to in³ whenever one supplier uses the other system.
Energy density, step by step
A cell holding 10.8 Wh in 16.5 cm³ gives 0.65 Wh/cm³, which is 650 Wh/L. Multiply by 16.387 to find the figure per cubic inch: 10.7 Wh/in³. The conversion is the same for any battery: divide watt-hours by the volume in cubic inches or in cubic centimetres, and use 16.387 to move between the two results. Reports from different countries are easier to compare once everything is in the same volume unit.
Dice, blocks and puzzle cubes
A standard die of 16 mm has 4.1 cm³, 0.25 in³. A building block of 31.8 by 15.8 by 9.6 mm has 4.8 cm³, 0.29 in³. A puzzle cube of 57 mm has 185 cm³, 11.3 in³. Toy designers record piece volumes for moulding, and a supplier that quotes in cubic inches needs a quick convert cm³ to in³ to compare with one that uses cubic centimetres.
Plastic injection moulding
A small part with a volume of 12 cm³, 0.73 in³, made of polypropylene at 0.9 g/cm³, weighs 10.8 g. The mould must hold the shot of melted plastic, so machine specifications give shot size in grams or cubic centimetres. American machines may quote cubic inches, and the converter links the two. A 2 oz shot is about 57 g.
In a spreadsheet
Enter the cubic centimetres in column A and use =A2*0.0610237441 in column B. For the reverse, =B2*16.387064. A third column with =A2*C2, where C2 is the density in g/cm³, gives the weight in grams. Format with three decimals for small items and two for larger ones, and keep the source column for audit.
Rounding
Match the precision of your input. A cell of 16.5 cm³ has three significant figures, so 1.01 in³ is enough. For a ball of 40.68 cm³, 2.48 in³ is fine. Do not round the factor in the middle of a chain of operations; 0.0610237441 costs nothing to keep and protects you from small errors piling up.
A mental shortcut
For a rough figure, multiply by 6 and move the point three places: 450 cm³ is 450 times 0.061, about 27.5 in³ (exactly 27.46). Or divide by 16 and subtract a little: 800 divided by 16 is 50, and 800 cm³ is 48.8 in³. Each approach lands within a few percent and works when a calculator is out of reach, although a specification needs the exact factor.
Reference values
1 cm³ is 0.061 in³, 5 cm³ are 0.305 in³, 16.4 cm³ is 1 in³, 50 cm³ are 3.05 in³, 100 cm³ are 6.10 in³, 500 cm³ are 30.5 in³, 1,000 cm³ are 61.0 in³ and 2,000 cm³ are 122 in³. With these marks you can test any result at a glance.
Teaching the idea
Cut a cube from foam with a side of 2.54 cm and show that it is one inch. Its volume is 16.39 cm³, not 2.54, because the side is multiplied three times. Students often expect the volume factor to equal the length factor; the foam cube corrects that in seconds. It also shows why the figure 0.0610 is the cube of 0.3937.
Checking by reversing
To make sure your “convert cm³ to in³” calculation step is right, multiply the result by 16.387. If 100 cm³ gave 6.10 in³, then 6.10 times 16.387 returns almost exactly 100. To convert cm³ to in³ with confidence, run a second check, magnitude: the figure in cubic inches should be about 16 times smaller than the figure in cubic centimetres. If it is only 2.5 times smaller, you used the length factor.
Fluid ounces and cubic inches
One US fluid ounce is 29.57 cm³, which is 1.80 in³. A can of 355 mL, 12 fluid ounces, has 21.7 in³. A person reading American recipes and science labels can move between ounces, millilitres and cubic inches once the cubic centimetre is the common link, since one millilitre is one cubic centimetre.
Capsules and tablets
A size 0 capsule holds about 0.68 cm³, which is 0.042 in³, and a size 00 holds about 0.91 cm³, 0.056 in³. Pharmacists and supplement makers talk in capsule sizes, not in cubic inches, but the volumes show how little space a dose occupies. A bottle of 100 size 00 capsules contains 91 cm³ of powder, 5.6 in³, enough to fit in the palm of a hand. Quality engineers compare fill volumes between plants using whichever unit their equipment reports.
Packs and their gaps
Ten 18650 cells have a combined cell volume of 165 cm³, 10.1 in³, but a pack to hold them in a tidy block of 90 by 65 by 38 mm needs 222 cm³, 13.6 in³. About a quarter of the box is air, spacers and wiring. Battery designers quote the ratio of cell volume to pack volume, which depends on the packing, so both numbers should use the same unit.
Candles and wax
A tea light holds roughly 23 cm³ of wax, 1.4 in³, which at 0.9 g/cm³ weighs about 20 g. A pillar candle of 70 mm diameter and 100 mm height has 385 cm³, 23.5 in³. Hobbyists who pour candles follow American recipes written in ounces and cubic inches of mould volume, while European suppliers sell wax by the kilogram. A conversion lets you work out how much wax a mould needs without guessing.
Soap, clay and craft blocks
A bar of soap of 90 by 55 by 25 mm has a volume of 124 cm³, 7.6 in³. A block of modelling clay of 50 by 50 by 100 mm has 250 cm³, 15.3 in³. Craft suppliers in Europe describe moulds in millilitres and cubic centimetres, American ones in cubic inches or fluid ounces. If you want to pour the same recipe in both kinds of mould, convert cm³ to in³ first and compare the capacities before you mix any material, because a mould that is a few cubic inches too small spoils the whole batch.
Why balls make good benchmarks
A sphere's volume is four thirds of pi times the radius cubed. For a golf ball with a radius of 21.3 mm, that is 40.7 cm³. If you convert cm³ to in³ for a bigger ball, remember that doubling the radius would give eight times the volume, 325 cm³, 19.9 in³. This cubic law explains why a tennis ball, only 57 percent wider than a golf ball, holds nearly four times as much. Volume grows with the cube, so small differences in size make large differences in capacity.
What a cubic inch weighs
Multiply density in g/cm³ by 16.387 to get the grams in a cubic inch. Water gives 16.4 g, ice 15.0 g, aluminium 44.2 g, steel 128.6 g, lead 185.8 g and gold about 316 g. Quartz at 2.65 g/cm³ gives 43.4 g. A collector who buys a sample sold by volume in cubic inches can check the weight to see whether it is the claimed material.
Mineral specimens
A quartz crystal of 25 cm³ is 1.53 in³ and weighs about 66 g. A lump of galena of the same size weighs about 188 g, because its density is about 7.5 g/cm³. Displacement is how geologists measure irregular samples: the water level rises by the sample's volume in cubic centimetres, and a conversion gives the cubic inches. Museums list both units, since visitors and catalogues from different countries use one or the other.
Measuring volume by displacement
Place a stone in a measuring jug with 200 mL of water. If the level rises to 220 mL, the stone has a volume of 20 cm³, 1.22 in³. This is the classic experiment attributed to Archimedes. It works for any object that sinks and does not absorb water. In class, students practise by converting the reading into cubic inches, which shows them that the displaced water and the object share the same volume.
Gemstones
A one carat diamond weighs 0.2 g and, with a density of 3.51 g/cm³, has a volume of 0.057 cm³, 0.0035 in³. A 10 carat emerald, less dense at 2.7 g/cm³, has 0.74 cm³, 0.045 in³. Jewellers think in carats and millimetres, but a hobbyist reading about synthetic crystal growth in American journals meets cubic inches, so a small conversion table helps.
Boxes and packaging
A box of 100 by 50 by 30 mm has an internal volume of 150 cm³, 9.15 in³. A cereal-bar carton of 200 by 150 by 50 mm holds 1,500 cm³, 91.5 in³. Carriers charge by volume or by weight, whichever is greater, so exporters check the cubic dimensions in both systems. A small conversion error at the planning stage can mean a pallet of boxes that does not fit the tariff band.
A stack of coins
A US quarter is 24.26 mm across and 1.75 mm thick, so ten of them stacked have a volume of 8.09 cm³, 0.49 in³. A euro coin of 2 euros, 25.75 mm across and 2.2 mm thick, has 1.15 cm³, 0.070 in³. Coin collectors weigh and measure to identify fakes, and volume together with mass gives density, which can reveal the wrong alloy.
More values for convert cm³ to in³
A longer list of conversions
If the value you need is not in the first list, these further conversions may be close enough to read off directly:
- 0.1 cm³ = 0.00610237 in³
- 0.5 cm³ = 0.0305119 in³
- 3 cm³ = 0.183071 in³
- 4 cm³ = 0.244095 in³
- 7 cm³ = 0.427166 in³
- 15 cm³ = 0.915356 in³
- 20 cm³ = 1.22047 in³
- 75 cm³ = 4.57678 in³
- 200 cm³ = 12.2047 in³
- 500 cm³ = 30.5119 in³
- 2,000 cm³ = 122.047 in³
- 10,000 cm³ = 610.237 in³
Mistakes when you convert cm³ to in³
Using 0.3937
That is the factor for lengths. For volumes, multiply by 0.0610237.
Mixing up millilitres and cubic inches
1 mL is one cm³, not one cubic inch. A cubic inch is about 16.4 mL.
Multiplying the wrong way
The cubic inch is the larger unit, so the number shrinks. If 100 cm³ became 1,639, you used the inverse.
Quick answers
How many cubic inches are in a cubic centimetre?
0.0610237.
How do I convert cm³ to in³?
Multiply by 0.0610237.
How many cubic centimetres are in a cubic inch?
16.387.
What is 1,000 cm³ in cubic inches?
61.02 in³.
Is the number I type stored anywhere?
No, it stays in your browser.
Related pages and a last word
If you work with volumes, these conversions are close at hand: Convert cm³ to m³, Convert cm³ to L, Convert ft³ to in³, Convert in³ to ft³, Convert km to mi, Convert mi to km, Convert °C to °F, Convert °F to °C, Convert mi to yd. The reverse of this page is Convert in³ to cm³.
To sum up: to convert cm³ to in³, multiply by 0.0610237, remember that the factor is 0.3937 cubed and write the unit beside the result. The figure you enter is processed locally, with no account and no upload.