decilitri

A decilitre is a unit of volume in the metric system. It is equal to one-tenth of a litre, or 100 millilitres. The symbol for decilitre is dl.

The decilitre is commonly used in many countries for measuring liquid ingredients in cooking and baking. For example, recipes might call for 2 dl of milk or 0.5 dl of oil. It is also used in some medical contexts, such as for measuring blood or urine samples.

While not as widely used as the litre or millilitre in scientific contexts, the decilitre can be a convenient intermediate unit. For instance, if a measurement is given as 250 ml, it can be easily converted to 2.5 dl. Similarly, a quantity of 0.75 litres can be expressed as 7.5 dl.

The prefix "deci-" in decilitre signifies a factor of 10⁻¹, meaning one-tenth. This places it between the centilitre (cl, 10⁻² litres) and the litre (l, 10⁰ litres) in the hierarchy of metric volume units. The decilitre is equivalent to 100 cubic centimetres (cm³), which is another common unit for volume.