Litre
One litre is the volume of a cube with 10 cm sides
Unit information
Unit system:	SI derived unit
Unit of...	Volume
Symbol:	L
In SI base units:	1 L = 10-3 m3

The litre (American spelling: liter; SI symbol l or L) is a non-SI metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm³), or 1,000 cubic centimetres (cm³), or 1/1,000 cubic metre. If the lower case L is used as the symbol, it is sometimes rendered as a cursive ℓ to help distinguish it from the capital "I", although this usage has no official approval by any international bureau.

The word litre is derived from an older French unit, the litron, whose name came from Greek via Latin. The original French metric system used the litre as a base unit, and it has been used in several subsequent versions of the metric system and is accepted for use with the SI,^[1] although not an official SI unit — the SI unit of volume is the cubic metre (m³). The spelling of the word used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is "litre"^[1] and this is also the usual one in most English-speaking countries, but in American English the spelling is "liter", being endorsed by the United States.^[2]

One litre of liquid water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram, due to the gram being defined in 1795 as one cubic centimetre of water at the temperature of melting ice.^[3]

Definition[link]

A litre is defined as a special name for a cubic decimetre or 10 centimetres × 10 centimetres × 10 centimetres, (1 L ≡ 1 dm³≡ 1000 cm³). Hence 1 L ≡ 0.001 m³ ≡ 1000 cm³, and 1 m³ (i.e. a cubic metre, which is the S.I. unit for volume) is exactly 1000 L.

From 1901 to 1964, the litre was defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water at 4 °C and 760 millimetres of mercury pressure. The kilogram was in turn specified as the mass of a platinum/iridium cylinder held at Sèvres in France and was intended to be of the same mass as the 1 litre of water referred to above. It was subsequently discovered that the cylinder was around 28 parts per million too large and thus, during this time, a litre was about 1.000028 dm³. Additionally, the mass-volume relationship of water (as with any fluid) depends on temperature, pressure, purity, and isotopic uniformity. In 1964, the definition relating the litre to mass was abandoned in favour of the current one. Although the litre is not an official SI unit, it is accepted by the SI body for use with the SI system, and the SI body makes determinations about how the litre is defined and what symbols are acceptable for it.

Explanation[link]

Litres are most commonly used for items (such as fluids and berries) which are measured by the capacity or size of their container, whereas cubic metres (and derived units) are most commonly used for items measured either by their dimensions or their displacements. The litre is often also used in some calculated measurements, such as density (kg/L), allowing an easy comparison with the density of water.

One litre of water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram when measured at its maximal density, which occurs at about 4 °C. Similarly: 1 millilitre of water has a mass of about 1 g; 1000 litres of water has a mass of about 1000 kg . This relationship holds because the gram was originally defined as the mass of 1 mL of water; however, this definition was abandoned in 1799 because the density of water changes with temperature and, very slightly, with pressure.

We now know that density also depends on the isotopic ratios of the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in a particular water sample. Modern measurements of Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water, which is pure distilled water with an isotopic composition representative of the average of the world’s oceans, show it has a density of 0.999975 ±0.000001 kg/L at its point of maximum density (3.984 °C) under one standard atmosphere (760 torr, 101.325 kPa) of pressure.^[4]

SI prefixes applied to the litre[link]

The litre, though not an official SI unit, may be used with SI prefixes. The most commonly used derived unit is the millilitre, defined as one-thousandth of a litre, and also often referred to by the SI derived unit name "cubic centimetre". It is a commonly used measure, especially in medicine and cooking. Other units may be found in the table below, where the more often used terms are in bold. However, some authorities advise against some of them; for example, in the United States, NIST advocates using the millilitre or litre instead of the centilitre.^[5]

Non-metric conversions[link]

Rough conversions[link]

One litre is slightly more than one U.S. liquid quart and slightly less than one imperial quart or one U.S. dry quart. A mnemonic for its volume relative to the imperial pint is "a litre of water is a pint and three quarters".

A litre is the volume of a cube with sides of 10 cm, which is slightly less than a cube of sides 4 inches (or one-third of a foot). One cubic foot would contain exactly 27 such cubes (four inches on each side), making one cubic foot approximately equal to 27 litres. One cubic foot has an exact volume of 28.316846592 litres, which is within 5 % of the 27-litre approximation.

A litre of water has a mass almost exactly equal to one kilogram of water. An early definition of the kilogram was set as the mass of one litre of water. Because volume changes with temperature and pressure, and pressure uses units of mass, the definition of a kilogram was changed. At standard pressure, one litre of water has a mass of 0.999975 kg at 4 °C, and 0.997 kg at 25 °C.^[6]

Symbol[link]

Originally, the only symbol for the litre was l (lowercase letter L), following the SI convention that only those unit symbols that abbreviate the name of a person start with a capital letter.

In many English-speaking countries, the most common shape of a handwritten Arabic digit 1 is just a vertical stroke; that is, it lacks the upstroke added in many other cultures. Therefore, the digit '1' may easily be confused with the letter 'l'. Further, on some typewriters, particularly older ones, the unshifted L key had to be used to type the numeral 1. Even in some computer typefaces, the two characters are barely distinguishable. This caused some concern, especially in the medical community. As a result, L (uppercase letter L) was adopted as an alternative symbol for litre in 1979. The United States National Institute of Standards and Technology now recommends the use of the uppercase letter L,^[7] a practice that is also widely followed in Canada and Australia. In these countries, the symbol L is also used with prefixes, as in mL and µL, instead of the traditional ml and µl used in Europe. In the UK and Ireland as well as the rest of Europe, lowercase l is used with prefixes, though whole litres are often written in full (so, "750 ml" on a wine bottle, but often "1 litre" on a juice carton).

Prior to 1979, the symbol ℓ (script small l, U+2113), came into common use in some countries; for example, it was recommended by South African Bureau of Standards publication M33 and Canada in the 1970s. This symbol can still be encountered occasionally in some English-speaking countries, and its use is ubiquitous in Japan and South Korea. Fonts covering the CJK characters usually include not only the script small ℓ but also four precomposed characters: ㎕, ㎖, ㎗, and ㎘ (U+3395 to U+3398) for the microlitre, millilitre, decilitre, and kilolitre. Nevertheless, it is no longer used in most countries and was never officially recognised by the BIPM or the International Organization for Standardization, and is a character often not available in currently used documentation systems.

History[link]

The litre was introduced in France in 1795 as one of the new "republican units of measurement" and defined as one cubic decimetre. The original decimetre length was 44.344 lignes, which was revised in 1798 to 44.3296 lignes. This made the original litre 1.000974 of today's dm³. It was against this litre that the kilogram was constructed.

In 1879, the CIPM adopted the definition of the litre, with the symbol l (lowercase letter L).

In 1901, at the 3rd CGPM conference, the litre was redefined as the space occupied by 1 kg of pure water at the temperature of its maximum density (3.98 °C) under a pressure of 1 atm. This made the litre equal to about 1.000 028 dm³ (earlier reference works usually put it at 1.000 027 dm³).

In 1964, at the 12th CGPM conference, the original definition was reverted to, and thus the litre was once again defined in exact relation to the metre, as another name for the cubic decimetre, that is, exactly 1 dm³.^[8]

In 1979, at the 16th CGPM conference, the alternative symbol L (uppercase letter L) was adopted. It also expressed a preference that in the future only one of these two symbols should be retained, but in 1990 said it was still too early to do so.^[9]

Colloquial and practical usage[link]

In spoken English, the abbreviation "mL" (for millilitre) is often pronounced as "mil", homophonous with the colloquial term "mil", which is intended to mean "one thousandth of a metre", or in the United States, a thousandth of an inch. This generally does not create confusion because the context is usually sufficient — one being a volume, the other a linear measurement.

The abbreviation cc (for cubic centimetre, equal to a millilitre or mL) is a unit of the cgs system, that preceded the MKS system, that later evolved into the SI system. The abbreviation cc is still commonly used in many fields including medical dosage and sizing for small combustion engine displacement, such as those used in motorcycles.

In European countries where the metric system was established well before the adoption of the SI standard, there is still carry-over of usage from the precursor cgs and MKS systems. In the SI system, use of prefixes for powers of 1,000 is preferred and all other multiples discouraged. However, in countries where these other multiples were already established, their use remains common. In particular, use of the centi (10⁻²), deci (10⁻¹), deca (10⁺¹), and hecto (10⁺²) prefixes are still common. For example, in many European countries, the hectolitre is the typical unit for production and export volumes of beverages (milk, beer, soft drinks, wine, etc.) and for measuring the size of the catch and quotas for fishing boats; decilitres are common in Switzerland and Scandinavia and sometimes found in cookbooks; centilitres indicate the capacity of drinking glasses and of small bottles. In colloquial Dutch in Belgium, a 'vijfentwintiger' and a 'drieëndertiger' (literally 'twenty-fiver' and 'thirty-threer') are the common beer glasses, the corresponding bottles mention 25 cL or 33 cL. Bottles may also be 75 cL or half size at 37.5 cL for 'artisanal' brews or 70 cL for wines or spirits. Cans come in 25 cL, 33 cL and 50 cL aka 0.5 L. Family size bottles as for soft drinks or drinking water use the litre (0.5 L, 1 L, 1.5 L, 2 L) as well as beer barrels (50 L or the half-sized 25 L). This unit is most common for all other household size containers of liquids from thermocans to buckets to bath tubs; as well as for fuel tanks and consumption for heating or by vehicles.

In countries where the metric system was adopted as the official measuring system after the SI standard was established, common usage more closely follow contemporary SI conventions. For example, in Canada, where the metric system is now in widespread use, consumer beverages are labelled almost exclusively using litres and millilitres. Hectolitres sometimes appear in industry, but centilitres and decilitres are rarely, if ever, used. Larger volumes are usually given in cubic metres (equivalent to 1 kL), or thousands or millions of cubic metres. The situation is similar in Australia, although kilolitres, megalitres, and gigalitres are commonly used for measuring water consumption, reservoir capacities and river flows.

For larger volumes of fluids, such as annual consumption of tap water, lorry (truck) tanks, or swimming pools, the cubic metre is the general unit. It is also generally for all volumes of a non-liquid nature.

Fluid flow rates may be measured in litres per unit time interval (second, minute, hour, etc.).

Usages to indicate capacity[link]

Fields where it has become a common measurement for non-liquid volumes, where the capacity of the container is indicated, include:

• Berries and solid items that can be poured and are measured by their containers
• Car boot/trunk size ^[10][11]
• Rucksacks & Climbing packs ^[12][13]
• Computer cases ^[14][15]
• Microwave ovens ^[16][17]
• Refrigerators ^[18][19]
• Sleeping bags - packed volume ^{[20][dead link] [21][dead link]}
• Bins
• Engine displacement

See also[link]

• Claude Émile Jean-Baptiste Litre
• Cubic metre
• Gallon
• Kilogram
• Pint

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (2006). "The International System of Units (SI)" (PDF). http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-18. 
• Bureau International des Poids et Mesures. (2006). "The International System of Units (SI)" (on-line browser):
  • Table 6 (Non-SI units accepted for use with the International System). Retrieved 2008-08-24
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (11 November 2000). "Appendix C: General tables of units of measurement". NIST Handbook 44: Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices. National Institute of Standards and Technology. http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm#4e. Retrieved 2006-10-09. 
• National Institute of Standards and Technology. (December 2003). The NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty: International System of Units (SI) (web site):
  • Note on SI units. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
  • Recommending uppercase letter L. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
• Taylor, B.N. and Thompson, A. (Eds.). (2008a). The International System of Units (SI). United States version of the English text of the eighth edition (2006) of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures publication Le Système International d’ Unités (SI) (Special Publication 330). Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
• Taylor, B.N. and Thompson, A. (2008b). Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (Special Publication 811). Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
• Turner, J. (Deputy Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology). (16 May 2008)."Interpretation of the International System of Units (the Metric System of Measurement) for the United States". Federal Register Vol. 73, No. 96, p. 28432-3.
• UK National Physical Laboratory. Internationally recognised non SI units

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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2009)

Ryo Nishikido (錦戸亮, Nishikido Ryō^?, born November 3, 1984) is a Japanese actor and singer. He is a member of the Johnny & Associates boy band Kanjani Eight and was a member of boy band NEWS.

Biography[link]

Ryo Nishikido was born in Hyogo on November 3, 1984 and raised in Osaka.^{[citation needed]} He made his major debut in 2004 as an actor and a singer. Nishkido belongs to Kanjani Eight, a Johnny & Associates boy band. In 2006, Nishikido held his first solo concert. He is also active in TV dramas, playing some major roles such as Haruto Asou in 1 Litre of Tears, Keisuke Kawai in Niini no Koto o Wasurenaide, Shota Nakahara in Attention Please, and Sosuke Oikawa in Last Friends.

In March 2009, at around 3:45pm on Sunday, Nishikido was driving on Shuto Expressway 3 around Roppongi. The road ahead of him was congested with traffic, and he rear-ended a car at the tail end of the traffic. Due to this collision, the car also collided with another vehicle in front of it. Nishikido was not injured, but the passenger of the middle car, a woman in her sixties, suffered a neck injury. All three cars also received damage to their bumpers. According to police, Nishikido was at fault for not watching where he was driving. His agency said that he had been careless in taking his eyes off the road, and he was unable to brake in time.^[1]

Nishikido appeared in a movie for the first time, playing the lead role in Chonmage Pudding, released in summer 2010. In the movie, he plays the hero, Kijima Yasubei.^[2]

On October 7, 2011, Johnnys & Associates announced that Nishikido would be leaving NEWS due to scheduling conflicts making it difficult for him to persist as an active member of both NEWS and Kanjani Eight.^[3]

Discography[link]

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this section if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (August 2009)

Dramas[link]

Awards[link]

• 2003-2004 Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix: Best Newcomer for Teru Teru Kazoku^[4]
• 57th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Last Friends^[5]
• 18th TV Life Annual Drama Awards 2008: Supporting Actor for Last Friends^[6]
• 18th TV Life Annual Drama Awards 2008: Supporting Actor for Ryusei no Kizuna^[6]
• Fall 2008 Nikkan Sports Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Last Friends^[7]
• Summer 2009 Nikkan Sports Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Orthros no Inu^[8]

References[link]

Erika Sawajiri (沢尻 エリカ, Sawajiri Erika^?, born April 8, 1986 in Nerima, Tokyo) is a Japan-based actress, model, and musician. Her alias in her music career was Kaoru Amane, but she has recently started her own project under the name Erika. She was affiliated with Sony Music Entertainment Japan for her record label (formerly as Kaoru Amane and later Erika), and Stardust Promotion for her talent agency (with her real name, Erika Sawajiri) before her contract was terminated in late 2009. On September 10, 2010, it was announced that she signed with Avex label for talent management and music releases. She became popular after playing a girl who suffered from an intractable disease called spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD) in the nonfiction drama 1 Litre of Tears.

Biography[link]

Erika was born to a Japanese father and an Algerian-born French mother of Berber extraction^[1][2][3] and is the youngest of three children. Her father owned sixteen racehorses, including Edonokoban (エドノコバン), giving Erika ample opportunities to engage in horseback riding as a child. Her father disappeared from home when Erika was 9 years old, returning when she was in her third year at junior high school, only to die from cancer that year. Her second eldest brother died in a traffic accident when she was in her first year at high school. Her eldest brother is a former actor. Her mother managed a Mediterranean restaurant and Erika sometimes worked. The restaurant is no longer in business. The family is extremely close knit, and often used Erika's photoshoots and other work as an opportunity to travel together as a family.^[4]

In 1999, Sawajiri passed the Stardust audition after graduating from elementary school. She became part of the idol unit Angel Eyes and began modeling for junior fashion magazines such as CUTiE and Nicola. She later won the grand prize for the 2001 Seikore and became a regular on the BS news program Harajuku Launchers. In 2002, Sawajiri started her career in film as well as extending her modeling career as a gravure idol. Her first film was Mondai no nai Watashitachi.

She became one of Fuji TV's Visual Queens in 2002. On the NTV variety show The Yoru mo Hit Parade, she became a regular from April till late June, shortly after leaving the program for the CX news program Chou VIP Fortune no Tobira from mid-June till late August. In November, she was on the CBC variety show Bijou Dokyuu and TBS show B-1. She got her big break when she was cast in the TBS TV drama Hotman. Her most notable role was in 1 Litre of Tears in 2005 when she portrayed a girl with the degenerative disease spinocerebellar degeneration.

Sawajiri first started her music career under the name "Kaoru Amane", the name of her character in her last drama, the TV adaptation of A Song to the Sun (Taiyou no Uta). The single went into number 1 in its second and fourth week. On July 16, 2007, Erika released her 'debut' single under only 'Erika,' "Free". The single was immediately ranked on its first day as number one on the Oricon Charts. Oricon stated that she is the only artist in 39 years to get their first two single hit number one since Hiroko Yakushimaru in 1983.

She decided to enter the entertainment world because she wanted to meet singer Namie Amuro whom she idolizes.

On January 20, 2009, Sawajiri married media creator Tsuyoshi Takashiro at Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi. The pair registered their marriage on January 7, which fell on the most auspicious of the days according to the six-day rokuyo calendar, and they held a small reception for close friends and family in Hawaii later that month.

Sawajiri and her mother both stated on separate occasions that she would return to Japan and make a comeback as soon as late summer 2009.^[5]

Sawajiri was originally scheduled to star in the live action film version of Space Battleship Yamato but was replaced by Meisa Kuroki.^[6]

In May 2010 it was announced that Sawajiri would be getting a divorce.^[7]

Controversy[link]

At the movie premiere for Closed Note on September 29, 2007, Sawajiri responded in a terse manner to reporters' questions.^[8] After much criticism in the Japanese press, she posted an apology on her website. A few days later she appeared on a TV Asahi's morning news show Super Morning, and gave them an exclusive 120-minute interview. She also denied the rumors that she was being suspended by her management.

She had planned to attend the 12th Pusan International Film Festival on October 6, 2007, but she cancelled. It was later discovered that she had been seen in a club with Tsuyoshi Takashiro, a man 21 years her senior.^[9] Sawajiri returned to Japan on March 29, 2008 after nearly three months in London with Takashiro. While in London, Sawajiri attended a language school. Her familiarity with English became evident at the airport when several cosmetics items fell out of her bag, and she exclaimed, "Oh shit!" She continued to mostly use English while at the airport, and she reportedly has become fluent enough to handle ordinary conversation.^[10]

During her two-year break from show business, she spent a year in London and a month in Australia studying English. She also spent half a year in Spain studying graphic design.

In September 2009, the Japanese media started releasing reports that her management company, Stardust Promotions, would void her contract for undisclosed reasons.^[11] Her personal website became devoid of all content save one cryptic line: "See you at the next stage." Sawajiri's mother denied that termination of her contract was the result of substance abuse by Erika.^[12]

On September 1, 2010, in an interview on CNNGo.com, she said that her apology after the 2007 movie premiere incident was a mistake. She didn't want to apologize but her management at that time forced her to apologize; "I told them 'this is my way'... but in the end I surrendered. That was my mistake." Sawajiri believes that the agencies that are forcing too much from their idols are too old fashioned and that "The managers themselves are old but we have to change this situation."^[3]

Filmography[link]

Movies[link]

TV dramas[link]

Special dramas[link]

Music videos[link]

Variety shows[link]

DVDs[link]

CM[link]

Publications[link]

Photobooks[link]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Erika Sawajiri Official Website (Japanese)
• Erika Sawajiri Official Website (Avex Management) (Japanese)
• Kaoru Amane Official Website (Japanese)
• Erika Sawajiri at Model Imago
• Erika Sawajiri at the Internet Movie Database