If a recipe calls for 250 mL of milk and you only have measuring tools in US units, how would you measure this volume and what conversion factor would you use (knowing that 1 cup ≈ 240 mL)?

Question

Need to measure 250 mL but only have US cups? Learn the simple conversion factor that will help you measure metric volumes with your standard tools.

Answer 1

To measure 250 mL of milk using US cups, use slightly more than 1 cup. The conversion factor is approximately 1 cup ≈ 240 mL, so 250 mL is roughly 1.04 cups.

Detailed Explanation:

Converting metric volumes to US customary units requires a conversion factor. In this case, we know that 1 cup is approximately equal to 240 mL. To determine how many cups are equivalent to 250 mL, we can set up a simple proportion or use the conversion factor directly.

Here's how to calculate it:

1. **Identify the conversion factor:** 1 cup ≈ 240 mL

2. **Set up the conversion:** We want to convert 250 mL to cups. We can divide 250 mL by the number of mL in a cup: 250 mL / 240 mL/cup ≈ 1.04 cups

3. **Practical Measurement:** Since measuring exactly 1.04 cups can be difficult with standard measuring cups, you can measure 1 cup and then add a little more milk (approximately 1 tablespoon, as 0.04 cups is roughly equivalent to 1 tablespoon).

Pro Tip:

For greater accuracy, especially in baking, consider using a kitchen scale to measure liquids by weight. Since the density of milk is close to 1 gram per milliliter, 250 mL of milk will weigh approximately 250 grams. This method is often more precise than volume measurements.