Question

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling 37,854,120 L of crude oil. What is this volume in milliliters?

Answer 1

There are `1000` `mL` in a litre. So simply mulitply by `10^3`.

Explanation:

Litres (`1000` `mL`) are a handy unit to use. The preferred terms are `dm^3`, or cubic decimetres. `1` `dm^3` `=` `1xx(10^-1m)^3` `=` `10^(-3)*m^3` `=` `m^3/1000`. The "d" in `dm` stands for deci, or `10^-1`. So there are 1000 `L` in a cubic metre. Can you tell me the volume of the oil spillage in `m^3`?

If you are from the USA, you probably use gallons, and pints, and poles, and perches, and bushels (whatever these are). Actually these US measurements are different from the imperial pints (the measurements used in Old Blighty). I recall that 1 US pint = 473 mL; 1 UK pint (or 1 "imperial" pint) = 568 mL. It might have been better had Napoleon conquered England; we might have had standard units of measurement worldwide.