Lessons · Pharmacy · millilitres, litres and the cc
Millilitres, litres, and the cc
A litre is 1,000 millilitres, and a cubic centimetre, written cc, is exactly the same volume as a millilitre.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
The bag on the pole is labelled in litres, the pump is set in millilitres, the syringe is marked in millilitres and the patient on the phone says cc. Four names, two units, one conversion, and every one of them turns up in the same shift.
How to think about it
Treat volume like weight: one step, a thousand. Litres into millilitres multiplies, millilitres into litres divides. And whenever somebody says cc, write mL and carry on; nothing changes.
Worked example
1 L = 1,000 mLThe same thousand as the weight ladder.
0.25 L = 250 mLMultiply by 1,000: three places right.
1 cc = 1 mLTwo names for one volume. A 3 cc syringe holds 3 mL.
2,500 mL = 2.5 LBack up the ladder: divide by 1,000.
Your turn
An order is written for 2 L and the pump is set in millilitres. Write the millilitres.
2 L = mL
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Hearing cc and reaching for a smaller number. A 10 cc syringe is a 10 mL syringe; it is not a tenth of anything.