Exaliter

What Is Exaliter?

An exaliter is a unit for measuring very large volumes, usually of liquids. It is part of the metric system. One exaliter equals a number so big that we almost never use it in daily life. It is useful when we talk about things as large as seas, oceans or the total amount of water on a planet.

Definition

An exaliter is a metric unit of volume.

• 1 exaliter = 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 liters
• This is also written as 10¹⁸ liters
• Because 1 cubic meter is 1 000 liters, we also have 1 exaliter = 1 000 000 000 000 000 cubic meters = 10¹⁵ cubic meters

The word exa tells us the size. It always means 10¹⁸, or one quintillion. The word liter tells us it measures volume, how much space a liquid fills.

History / Origin

The exaliter comes from the International System of Units, called SI for short. SI uses prefixes to show very big and very small numbers. Some common prefixes are kilo for 1 000, mega for 1 000 000 and giga for 1 000 000 000.

The prefix exa was added later, when science and technology began to deal with very large values, such as the size of planets or huge data centers. Exa was chosen to mean 10¹⁸. The word exa comes from the Greek word related to the number six, because 10¹⁸ has six groups of three zeros after 1 000.

Liters have been used in the metric system since the 1700s. When exa was accepted as an SI prefix, exaliter became the natural name for a volume that is 10¹⁸ liters.

Symbol & Abbreviation

The standard symbol for exaliter is:

• EL = exaliter

Notes about the symbol:

• The letter E is capital, because exa is a large SI prefix
• The letter L is capital, which is a common way to write liter in science to avoid confusion with the number 1
• You may sometimes see exaliter written in full as exalitre in British English, but the symbol EL stays the same

Current Use Around the World

The exaliter is mostly a theoretical or scientific unit. It is not used in shopping, cooking or normal engineering, because it is far too large. Instead, people use liters, milliliters, and cubic meters.

Where you might see exaliters used:

• In scientific papers about the total water on Earth or on another planet
• In models of global water cycles, such as how much water moves between oceans, air and land each year
• In very large scale climate or space simulations, where average volumes can reach extreme sizes

Even in these fields, many scientists prefer other large volume units, such as cubic kilometers, because they are easier to imagine and draw on maps. So the exaliter exists in the official metric system, but is rarely used in everyday work.

Example Conversions

Here are some useful conversion facts involving exaliters.

• 1 EL = 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 L
• 1 EL = 1 000 000 000 000 000 m³ (cubic meters)
• 1 EL = 1 000 000 cubic kilometers (km³)

Step by step conversions:

From exaliters to liters

Multiply by 1 000 000 000 000 000 000.

• 0.5 EL = 0.5 × 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 L = 500 000 000 000 000 000 L
• 2 EL = 2 × 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 L = 2 000 000 000 000 000 000 L

From exaliters to cubic meters

1 m³ = 1 000 L, so divide liters by 1 000 or use the shortcut:

• 1 EL = 1 000 000 000 000 000 m³
• 3 EL = 3 000 000 000 000 000 m³

From exaliters to cubic kilometers

1 km³ = 1 000 000 000 000 L or 10¹² L.

• 1 EL = 1 000 000 km³
• 0.01 EL = 10 000 km³

To imagine the size, the total volume of all Earth seas and oceans is on the order of thousands of exaliters.

Related Units

The exaliter fits into a family of volume units based on the liter. Here are some related units, from small to very large:

• Milliliter (mL) 0.001 L, used for medicine and drinks
• Liter (L) base unit for everyday liquids like water, milk and fuel
• Kiloliter (kL) 1 000 L, used for tank sizes or small swimming pools
• Megaliter (ML) 1 000 000 L, used for lakes or city water use
• Gigaliter (GL) 1 000 000 000 L, used in large water supply systems
• Teraliter (TL) 10¹² L
• Petaliter (PL) 10¹⁵ L
• Exaliter (EL) 10¹⁸ L
• Zettaliter (ZL) 10²¹ L
• Yottaliter (YL) 10²⁴ L

Other important related units are based on length:

• Cubic centimeter (cm³) equals 1 mL
• Cubic meter (m³) equals 1 000 L
• Cubic kilometer (km³) equals 1 000 000 000 000 L

FAQs

Is an exaliter used in everyday life?

No. An exaliter is far too big for daily use. People normally use milliliters, liters and cubic meters. Exaliters are mainly for science when talking about huge natural volumes.

How many liters are in 1 exaliter?

There are exactly 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 liters in 1 exaliter. This is written as 10 to the power of 18 liters.

Is exaliter an SI unit?

The liter itself is not one of the seven base SI units, but it is accepted for use with SI. Because the exa prefix is an official SI prefix, exaliter is an accepted metric unit built from SI rules.

What is bigger, a cubic kilometer or an exaliter?

An exaliter is much bigger. One exaliter equals one million cubic kilometers. So 1 EL = 1 000 000 km³.

Why do scientists prefer cubic meters to exaliters?

Scientists often use cubic meters because they connect directly to length measurements in meters. It is easier to relate area and depth to cubic meters. Exaliters are so large that they are only useful in rare cases.

How do I convert exaliters to megaliters?

1 megaliter is 1 000 000 liters. Since 1 exaliter is 10¹⁸ liters, you divide by 1 000 000 to get megaliters. This gives 1 EL = 10¹² megaliters.