Gallons to Quarts
Convert gallons (gal) to quarts (qt). Both measure capacity and volume, and the conversion comes up in cooking, chemistry, fuel work.
The Formula
``
quarts = gallons × 4
gallons = quarts × 0.25
`
One gallon is 4 quarts, and one quart is 0.25 gallons.
Conversion Table
| Gallons | Quarts |
|---|---|
| 1 gal | 4 qt |
| 2 gal | 8 qt |
| 5 gal | 20 qt |
| 10 gal | 40 qt |
| 25 gal | 100 qt |
| 50 gal | 200 qt |
| 100 gal | 400 qt |
| 500 gal | 2,000 qt |
| 1,000 gal | 4,000 qt |
The Other Direction
| Quarts | Gallons |
|---|---|
| 1 qt | 0.25 gal |
| 2 qt | 0.5 gal |
| 5 qt | 1.25 gal |
| 10 qt | 2.5 gal |
| 25 qt | 6.25 gal |
| 50 qt | 12.5 gal |
| 100 qt | 25 gal |
| 500 qt | 125 gal |
| 1,000 qt | 250 gal |
What Each Unit Is
Gallons (gal) — the US liquid gallon: exactly 3.785411784 litres. The English wine gallon of 231 cubic inches, kept by the US after Britain moved on in 1824.
Quarts (qt) — a quarter of a US gallon, or 0.946352946 litres. From the Latin quartus, a fourth part of a gallon.
A Sense of Scale
A US milk jug is 1 gallon- A car tank is 12–16 gallons
- US fuel economy is miles per gallon
- A US quart is just under a litre
- Ice cream is sold by the quart
- A quart is two pints
Precision
The factor 4 is exact by international agreement, not a rounded approximation. Any imprecision in a result comes from your input, not the conversion.
Watch Out For
- The UK imperial gallon is 4.546 litres — 20% larger. A "gallon" without a country attached is ambiguous, and US MPG figures look worse when read as imperial.
In Code
`javascript
const gallonToQuart = (value) => value * 4;
``
Where This Conversion Comes Up
- Cooking
- Chemistry
- Fuel
- Beverages
- Medicine
How Many Decimals Do You Need?
Rounding the factor costs accuracy, and how much depends on the factor. Converting 137 gal with the factor truncated at each decimal place:
| Decimals kept | Factor | 137 gal becomes | Error |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 4 | 548 | — |
| 1 | 4 | 548 | — |
| 2 | 4 | 548 | — |
| 3 | 4 | 548 | — |
| 4 | 4 | 548 | — |
The right number of significant figures is set by your input, not by the converter. If you measured gallons to three significant figures, the answer in quarts is only good to three — writing more digits claims precision the measurement never had.