Quarts in a gallon

There are 4 quarts (qt) in 1 gallon (gal). Both quarts and gallons are part of the US customary and imperial systems of measurement. The unit quart gets its name from the Latin quartus, meaning "one-quarter," so the unit is based on being one-quarter of a gallon.

Quart to gallon converter

The following converter can be used to convert from quarts to gallons or gallons to quarts. Just enter a value in either quarts or gallons to convert between the two.


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How to convert quarts to gallons

Converting between quarts and gallons requires us to remember the relationship between a quart and a gallon.

How many quarts in a gallon

A quart is one quarter of a gallon, so:


1 quart = gallon


How many gallons in a quart

There are 4 quarts in 1 gallon:


1 gallon = 4 quarts


Thus, to convert quarts to gallons we divide by 4 and to convert gallons to quarts we multiply by 4.

Examples

1. Convert 17 quarts to gallons:


17 qt ÷ 4 = 4.25 gal


2. Convert 12 gallons to quarts:


12 gal × 4 = 48 qt


What is a quart

A quart is a unit of measurement of volume that originated from English units. It is used today in both the US customary and imperial systems of units, though both systems have different definitions of the quart.

Quart definition

A quart is defined as being one-fourth of a gallon. This is true no matter whether the quart being referenced is in the US customary, imperial, or some other system of measurement. However, within each of these systems, the actual value of the quart is different. The value of the quart is always based on the definition of the gallon in the respective system but since this differs, the value of the quart differs. Also, in the US customary system, there is both a liquid quart and a dry quart. In comparison, most other systems only have a liquid quart. While there are other definitions of the gallon and quart, we will only discuss the US and imperial versions since these are the systems in which a quart is still typically used today. The following list shows a comparison of the US liquid quart, US dry quart, and imperial quart in liters.

Quart history

The quart as a unit of measurement that originated in England in the middle ages. Its value has changed over time but has always been based on the definition of the gallon in the respective system. Whatever the value of the gallon in a given system, the quart is ¼ of the value.

The US gallon (and therefore quart) is based on the value of the wine gallon used under Queen Anne in 1707. The imperial gallon was created in 1824 to replace the wine, ale, and corn gallons used at the time. Rather than use these multiple definitions of the gallon, this definition in the imperial system sought to standardize the gallon.

Quart usage

The quart is mostly used to measure liquids in recipes as well as to describe sizes of containers in the US. It is used similarly in the UK for recipes and cooking, but remember that the actual values differ. When using a recipe from the UK for example, it is important to note the differences in their values relative to US recipes.

What is a gallon

A gallon is a unit of measurement in the US customary and imperial systems of measurement.

Gallon definition

The gallon, as it is mostly used today, has three definitions. In the US customary system, there are two definitions: the liquid galon and the dry gallon. In the imperial system, there is only a liquid gallon. Their definitions in terms of liters are as follows:

Gallon history

The gallon originated in England as a measure of wine and beer. Its name originated from the french "galon" meaning "a liquid measure." There have been many different definitions of the gallon throughout history, such as the Roman gallon and treasury gallon. However, for the most part, only the US gallon and imperial gallon are still used today. The US gallon is still based on the Queen Anne gallon which was defined in 1707. The imperial gallon was defined in 1824 to replace the use of multiple other gallons (wine, ale, and corn) and then again redefined in 1964 along with the liter in order to be more precise. Its current definition was adopted in the UK in 1976.

Gallon usage

The gallon is used mostly in the context of liquid measures such as gasoline, milk, wine, and beer in the US and the UK. In the UK however, the gallon is no longer a primary unit of trade, though it can be used as a supplementary unit legally.

Other countries (aside from the US) that sell gasoline using the US gallon include Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. In the Bahamas, both the US gallon and imperial gallons are used.

Quarts to gallons conversion table

The following tables show some quarts to gallons conversions in both the US customary and imperial systems of measurement as well as their values in liters.

US customary quarts to gallons

Quarts Gallons Liters
0.01 0.0025 0.0379
0.1 0.025 0.379
1 0.25 3.785
2 0.5 7.571
3 0.75 11.356
5 1.25 18.927
10 2.5 37.854
20 5 75.708
50 12.5 189.271
100 25 378.541
1000 250 3785.41

Imperial quarts to gallons

Quarts Gallons Liters
0.01 0.0025 0.0455
0.1 0.025 0.455
1 0.25 4.546
2 0.5 9.092
3 0.75 13.638
5 1.25 22.730
10 2.5 45.461
20 5 90.922
50 12.5 227.304
100 25 454.609
1000 250 4546.09

US gallon vs imperial gallon

The US gallon and imperial gallon have different measures. Since the definition of the quart is dependent on the gallon, we need to know the differences especially if we want to convert volumes between the two systems. The relationships between gallons, quarts, pints, and cups are the same between the two systems. The only difference is that the number of fluid ounces relative to gallons differs in both the imperial and US systems of measurement. Their relationships are shown below:


1 US liquid gallon  =  4 quarts
   =  8 pints
   =  16 cups
   =  128 fluid ounces

1 imperial gallon  =  4 quarts
   =  8 pints
   =  16 cups
   =  160 fluid ounces

The table below shows the relationships between the measurements in the two systems and liters.


Unit US customary system (L) Imperial system (L)
Gallon 3.785 4.546
Quart 0.946 1.137
Pint 0.473 0.568
Cup 0.240 0.284
Fluid Ounce 0.030 0.028