The cup is a unit of measurement for volume, used in cooking to measure bulk foods, such as chopped vegetables (dry measurement), and liquids (fluid measurement). It is in common use in many countries, especially those that were part of the British Empire, including the United States and most members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and nations that were influenced by them, such as Japan. The cup is not commonly used in the United Kingdom. The former Weights and Measures office in Middlesex, England. ... Vegetables on a market Vegetable is a nutritional and culinary term denoting any part of a plant that is commonly consumed by humans as food, but is not regarded as a culinary fruit, nut, herb, spice, or grain. ... A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms (flows) under an applied shear stress regardless of the magnitude of the applied stress. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2006 Headquarters Marlborough House, London, UK Official languages English Membership 53 sovereign states Leaders  -  Queen Elizabeth II  -  Secretary-General Don McKinnon (since 1 April 2000) Establishment  -  Balfour Declaration 18 November 1926   -  Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931   -  London Declaration 28 April 1949  Area  -  Total...

Definition

There is no internationally agreed standard definition of the cup, largely because different English-speaking nations have diverged in the laws that define their next smaller unit of volume, the fluid ounce, and most other countries use metric measuring cups and millilitres instead. Consequently, the cup volume ranges between 1/5 (0.20) and 1/4 (0.25) of a litre (200–250 millilitres). By comparison, the difference in the legal fluid ounce is relatively insignificant for household purposes; the difference is only about 4%. A fluid ounce is a unit of volume in both the Imperial system of units and the U.S. customary units system. ... The litre or liter (see spelling differences) is a unit of volume. ... The millilitre is the equivalent of a cubic centimetre. ...

Recipes in cookbooks naturally use the local customary units; but, because the cups used in the Commonwealth of Nations and the United States differ by only ½ (0.5) fluid ounce, the respective measures are close enough for cooking. A system of measurement is a set of units which can be used to specify anything which can be measured. ... The Commonwealth of Nations as of 2006 Headquarters Marlborough House, London, UK Official languages English Membership 53 sovereign states Leaders  -  Queen Elizabeth II  -  Secretary-General Don McKinnon (since 1 April 2000) Establishment  -  Balfour Declaration 18 November 1926   -  Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931   -  London Declaration 28 April 1949  Area  -  Total...

• Australia, Canada, New Zealand: one cup is 1/4 litre (250 mL), equivalent to approximately 8.8 Imperial, or 8.5 U.S., fluid ounces.

• Japan: one cup is 1/5 litre (200 mL). A traditional Japanese cup (gō) is 180 mL; 10 Japanese cups together make one shou, the traditional flask size, 1.8 litres. Sake is typically sold by both the cup (180 mL) and flask (1.8 litre) sizes. The cup size used for measuring rice is the traditional size of 180 mL. (For example, a 10-cup rice cooker has a capacity of 1.8 litre or 1 shou.) [1]

• United States (current legal definition, such as for nutrition labeling): one cup is 240 mL, as defined in U.S. law (21 CFR 101.9 (b) (5) (viii)).[2][3]

• United States (customary definition): one cup is 0.5 U.S. pints, or 8.0 U.S. fluid ounces, equivalent to approximately 237 millilitres or 8.3 Imperial fluid ounces.

Cup sizes in recipes do not necessarily define serving sizes for beverages. For example, a cup of brewed coffee in the U.S. is traditionally only 6 U.S. fluid ounces (180 mL). The millilitre is the equivalent of a cubic centimetre. ... The gō ) (sometimes also written go or gou) is a traditional Japanese unit of volume. ... Shō is a Japanese given name. ... Sake barrels at Itsukushima Shrine. ... The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States. ... U.S. customary units, commonly known in the United States as English units or standard units, are units of measurement that are currently used in the U.S., in some cases alongside units from SI (the International System of Units—the modern metric system). ... The pint is a unit of volume or capacity. ... A fluid ounce is a unit of volume in both the Imperial system of units and the U.S. customary units system. ... The Imperial units are an irregularly standardized system of units that have been used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including the Commonwealth countries. ... A cup of coffee. ...

Conversion to and from metric recipes

In metric regions, cooking recipes normally state any liquid volumes larger than a few tablespoons in millilitres, the scale found on most measuring cups worldwide. Non-liquid ingredients are normally weighed in grams instead, using a kitchen scale, rather than measured in cups. Some recipes in Europe use the decilitre (1 dL = 100 mL) as a cup-like measure. For example, where an American customary recipe might specify "1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of milk", a metric recipe might specify "200 g sugar and 500 mL of milk" (or ½ litre or 5 decilitres). Conversion between the two measures must take into account the density of the ingredients (granulated sugar, 0.8 g/mL; wheat flour, 0.5–0.6 g/mL; table salt, 1.2 g/mL^[1]). This tablespoon has a capacity of about 1 tbsp. ... A simple plastic measuring cup A measuring cup is a kitchen utensil used to measure liquid or dry substances when cooking. ...

Equivalence with various U.S. units of volume and mass

• The Imperial cup and the U.S. cup are each 1/2 of their respective pints. But, because of the difference in the definition of a U.S. gallon and an Imperial gallon, from which the lower 'wet measures' are derived, an Imperial cup is greater than a U.S. cup.

• An Imperial fluid ounce is defined as "the volume occupied by one avoirdupois ounce of water at 62 °F (16.7 °C)": one Imperial fluid ounce weighs one avoirdupois ounce. Thus an Imperial cup of water, at 10 Imperial fluid ounces (1/2 an Imperial Pint), also weighs 10 avoirdupois ounces. A U.S. fluid ounce is 1.04 avoirdupois ounces, so a customary cup at 8 U.S. fluid ounces weighs 8.32 avoirdupois ounces and is 16.8% less than an Imperial cup in terms of mass.

• In the absence of measuring cups, tablespoons can be used: 16 tablespoons equal a cup, at a rate of 1 tablespoon to ½ a fluid ounce.

The ounce (abbreviation: oz) is the name of a unit of mass in a number of different systems, including various systems of mass that form part of English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... A simple plastic measuring cup A measuring cup is a kitchen utensil used to measure liquid or dry substances when cooking. ... This tablespoon has a capacity of about 1 tbsp. ... A fluid ounce is a unit of volume in both the Imperial system of units and the U.S. customary units system. ...

References

1. ^ L. Fulton, E. Matthews, C. Davis: Average weight of a measured cup of various foods. Home Economics Research Report No. 41, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, 1977.

See also

• Measuring cup