How to convert liquid oil mililitres (measure) to grams (weight)?

[SudsyFox]

Hi all, please bear with me as I ask some really silly questions that probably have very obvious answers...

I'm trying to figure out how much of each oil I need to buy for my holiday soaps and I've run into conversion problems. All my recipes list the oils in weight -- in grams -- and this is always how I've measured them. However, the liquid oils are sold in mililitres/litres (or fluid ounces).

How can I tell how much 4 litres of sunflower oil actually weighs, for example??

The calculations part of soapmaking is the bane of my existence!!

 

[Relle]

800 grams of oil, is approx. 1 litre. So 4 litres is 800x4= 3200 grams.

 

[user 34073]

Hi all, please bear with me as I ask some really silly questions that probably have very obvious answers...

I'm trying to figure out how much of each oil I need to buy for my holiday soaps and I've run into conversion problems. All my recipes list the oils in weight -- in grams -- and this is always how I've measured them. However, the liquid oils are sold in mililitres/litres (or fluid ounces).

How can I tell how much 4 litres of sunflower oil actually weighs, for example??

The calculations part of soapmaking is the bane of my existence!!

I use this website
https://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking/
It's really helpful because you can enter the ingredients you're converting. A gram of water to ml is not the same as a gram of oil to ml

 

[SudsyFox]

800 grams of oil, is approx. 1 litre. So 4 litres is 800x4= 3200 grams.

Thank you so much! Is this the same for all oils? Where did you find this information?

 

[Relle]

Thank you so much! Is this the same for all oils? Where did you find this information?

This is not where I found the info but this conversion chart lets you put in lots of oils. I think it converted sunflower, 1 litre to 928 grms.
http://convert-to.com/edible-cooking-oils-weight-volume-measures-conversion

 

[SudsyFox]

This is not where I found the info but this conversion chart lets you put in lots of oils. I think it converted sunflower,1 litre to 928 grms.
http://convert-to.com/edible-cooking-oils-weight-volume-measures-conversion

Excellent, thanks very much This is very helpful!

 

[Lankan]

you'll have to find out the density of each oil to convert the volume into weight vise versa.

If I have note mistaken Coconut oil's density is about 0.924, which means 1 liter of oil will weigh 924grams.

 

[SudsyFox]

you'll have to find out the density of each oil to convert the volume into weight vise versa.

If I have note mistaken Coconut oil's density is about 0.924, which means 1 liter of oil will weigh 924grams.

I see. So water's density is the value that everything else is based off, or 1.0?

 

[Lankan]

I see. So water's density is the value that everything else is based off, or 1.0?

In metric system, the volume and weight are interlinked using water as the base.

1 liter means the volume of 1,000 cubic centimeters (volume of 10cm X 10cm X 10cm container).
1 kilograms/1,000 grams means the weigh of the 1 liter of water.
when the density is stated it's the weight of the 1 liter of oil divided by the weight of the 1 liter of water, which is 1,000 grams.

this site has an extensive list of densities of the oils https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/liquids-densities-d_743.html

 

[SudsyFox]

In metric system, the volume and weight are interlinked using water as the base.

1 liter means the volume of 1,000 cubic centimeters (volume of 10cm X 10cm X 10cm container).
1 kilograms/1,000 grams means the weigh of the 1 liter of water.
when the density is stated it's the weight of the 1 liter of oil divided by the weight of the 1 liter of water, which is 1,000 grams.

this site has an extensive list of densities of the oils https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/liquids-densities-d_743.html

Mind=blown. I can't believe I never knew this. It explains so much! Thank you!

 

[DeeAnna]

"...when the density is stated it's the weight of the 1 liter of oil divided by the weight of the 1 liter of water..."

You're talking about specific gravity here, not density. Specific gravity is independent of units -- it's just a number. The specific gravity of water is 1.0. The specific gravity of a generic fat is about 0.92.

Density is always defined as weight units / volume units. Examples of density --

grams / cubic centimeter, g/cm3
pounds / cubic foot, lb/ft3
​

If you know the specific gravity of a particular material, say fat at 0.92, and you know the density of water in the units you want, such as water , then you can figure the density of fat in those units. Water has a density in Imperial units of 62.4 lb / ft3, so the density of fat in those same units is --

Density = Density water X Specific gravity = 62.4 X 0.92 = 57.4 lb / ft3

Or if you want a metric density, then look up the density of water in the units you want. I'll use 1 g / cm3. The specific gravity for the fat doesn't change -- 0.92.

Density = Density water X Specific gravity = 1 X 0.92 = 0.92 g / cm3