Gallons to Gigalitres conversion

How to convert gallons to gigalitres?

Sure, I'd be happy to help explain how to convert gallons to gigalitres and provide some real-world examples.

First, let's talk about the conversion:

1. Conversion Factors:

   • 1 Gallon (US) = 3.78541 liters
   • 1 Gigalitre (GL) = 1,000,000,000 (10^9) liters

2. Conversion Process:

To convert from gallons to gigalitres: $\text{Volume in GL} = \text{Volume in gallons} \times \frac{3.78541 \text{ liters}}{1 \text{ gallon}} \times \frac{1 \text{ GL}}{1,000,000,000 \text{ liters}}$

Applying this to 1 gallon:

$1 \text{ gallon} \times \frac{3.78541 \text{ liters}}{1 \text{ gallon}} \times \frac{1 \text{ GL}}{1,000,000,000 \text{ liters}}$ $= 3.78541 \text{ liters} \times \frac{1 \text{ GL}}{1,000,000,000 \text{ liters}}$ $= 3.78541 \times 10^{-9} \text{ GL}$

So, 1 gallon is approximately $3.78541 \times 10^{-9}$ gigalitres, or 0.00000000378541 GL.

Real-World Examples

1. Swimming Pools:

   • An Olympic-size swimming pool holds about 660,000 gallons of water. Converting this: $660,000 \text{ gallons} \times 3.78541 \times 10^{-9} \text{ GL/gallon} \approx 0.0025 \text{ GL}$

2. Household Water Use:

   • The average American family uses about 300 gallons of water per day. Converting this: $300 \text{ gallons} \times 3.78541 \times 10^{-9} \text{ GL/gallon} \approx 1.14 \times 10^{-6} \text{ GL}$

3. Lakes:

   • Lake Erie contains approximately 116 cubic miles of water. 1 cubic mile is about 1.1 trillion gallons. Therefore: $116 \text{ cubic miles} \times 1.1 \text{ trillion gallons/cubic mile} = 127.6 \text{ trillion gallons}$ Converting this to gigalitres: $127.6 \text{ trillion gallons} \times 3.78541 \times 10^{-9} \text{ GL/gallon} = 483 \text{ GL}$

4. Fuel Consumption:

   • A car that averages 25 miles per gallon and drives 15,000 miles a year uses: $\frac{15,000 \text{ miles}}{25 \text{ miles/gallon}} = 600 \text{ gallons/year}$ Converting this: $600 \text{ gallons} \times 3.78541 \times 10^{-9} \text{ GL/gallon} \approx 2.27 \times 10^{-6} \text{ GL/year}$

These examples help illustrate how different volumes in gallons can be converted into gigalitres, which is useful for understanding both large-scale and small-scale water usage and volumes.