Convert Gallon (US) (gal (US)) to Petaliter (PL) instantly.
About these units
Gallon (US) (gal (US))
The US gallon is defined as exactly 231 cubic inches, or 3.785411784 liters. It is widely used in American commerce for gasoline, milk, water, and other household liquids. Its historical roots lie in old English wine and ale gallons, whose varying definitions ultimately led to divergent US and UK systems. Today, the US gallon remains deeply embedded in American culture, especially in automotive contexts—fuel economy ratings such as "miles per gallon" (MPG) illustrate its everyday relevance. Despite the global shift toward metric volume units, the US gallon persists due to familiarity and regulatory inertia. It remains an iconic unit, symbolizing uniquely American measurement traditions.
Petaliter (PL)
A petaliter represents 10¹⁵ liters, a massive unit used to quantify the total water content of oceans, polar ice sheets, or planetary atmospheres. Oceanographers may describe the Pacific Ocean's volume or the total ice volume of Antarctica in petaliters; these scales cannot be expressed meaningfully in smaller units without imposing huge, impractical numbers. The PL is also sometimes used in astronomy to approximate ocean-like features on other worlds, such as subsurface oceans on Europa or Enceladus. It represents one of the largest practical volumetric units before entering pure theoretical measurement.