US Bushels (bu) to Glas (glas) conversion

What is the US Bushel?

The US bushel is a large United States customary unit of dry volume used chiefly in agriculture to measure grain, fruit, and other bulk crops. It is the foundation of the US dry-measure system.

Definition

The US bushel (the Winchester bushel) is defined as exactly 2150.42 cubic inches.

$$1\ \text{bu} = 35.2391\ \text{L}$$

This equals 2150.42 × 16.387064 cm³ = 35239.07 cm³, which the NIST Guide to the SI tabulates as 3.523 907 × 10⁻² m³. One bushel contains 4 pecks, 32 dry quarts, or 64 dry pints. It should not be confused with the imperial bushel (36.36872 L), which is about 3% larger.

Origin and History

The Winchester bushel dates to a 1696 English statute (with roots in medieval standards kept at Winchester) and was defined as a cylinder 18.5 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep, giving 2150.42 in³. The United States adopted this measure, while Great Britain replaced it with the imperial bushel in 1824.

Law and Notable Facts

Although volumetric by definition, US grain trading uses the bushel as a weight-based unit: legal "bushel weights" fix a bushel of wheat or soybeans at 60 pounds, corn and rye at 56 pounds, and oats at 32 pounds. Commodity exchanges quote grain prices per bushel on this weight basis.

Real-World Examples and Conversions

• A bushel of shelled corn weighs 56 lb (about 25.4 kg) and occupies roughly 35.24 liters of loose volume.
• 1 US bushel = 4 pecks = 8 US dry gallons = 35.2391 L.
• 1 US bushel ≈ 0.9689 imperial bushel; 1 cubic meter ≈ 28.38 US bushels.

What is Glas?

Glas is a Swedish unit of volume used in cooking and baking. The word "glas" is Swedish for "glass," reflecting its origin as a measure based on the contents of a drinking glass. In modern Swedish recipes it is a standardized measure.

Definition of Glas

In the standardized Swedish system of kitchen measures (matmått), one glas is defined as 2 deciliters, which is equal to 200 millilitres.

$$1 \text{ glas} = 2 \text{ dL} = 200 \text{ mL} = 0.2 \text{ L}$$

Like the other Swedish cooking measures (kryddmått, tesked, matsked, and kaffekopp), the glas follows the metric system, so conversions to litres and millilitres are exact.

Relationship to Other Units

The glas fits neatly into the family of Swedish volume measures and the wider metric system:

• 1 glas = 200 mL = 20 centilitres
• 1 glas = 2 deciliter (dL)
• 1 glas ≈ 6.76 US fluid ounces
• 1 glas ≈ 7.04 Imperial fluid ounces
• 1 glas ≈ 0.85 US cups

Because 1 kaffekopp (coffee cup) is 1.5 dL, a glas (2 dL) is slightly larger than a kaffekopp.

Historical Context

The glas belongs to the set of household measures that Swedish cooks have long used in place of scales. As Sweden adopted the metric system in the late 19th century, these traditional kitchen measures were standardized to round metric values, giving the glas its modern value of 2 dL. There is no single law or historical figure directly associated with it; rather, it reflects the gradual standardization of everyday cooking measurements.

Real-World Examples

Glas measurements appear frequently in Swedish and Scandinavian recipes:

• Baking: A cake recipe might call for 3 glas of flour.
• Cooking: A sauce or soup might need 1 glas of cream or stock.
• Drinks: Punch and cordial recipes are often measured in glas.

Converting Glas

Because the glas is defined in exact metric terms, conversion is straightforward. To convert a volume in glas to litres:

$$\text{Volume in Liters} = \text{Volume in Glas} \times 0.2$$

For example, 4 glas equals $4 \times 0.2 = 0.8$ litres (800 mL).