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How to Convert a Milligram Into a Milliliter

Scientists working in the metric system use units based on grams to measure the mass of chemical substances. The unit of liter is likewise the standard for the measurement of volume. The metric system has a series of prefixes which indicate the magnitude of a measurement, and the prefix "milli" means one thousandth. A milliliter (mL) is therefore one thousandth of a liter and a milligram is one thousandth of a gram. You can calculate the volume of 1 mg of a chemical in mL if you know its density; the mass contained in a unit volume.

Instructions

- 1
  Divide the value of 1 mg by 1,000 to convert it into units of grams (g). This conversion will change the units of the mass value so it is 0.001 g rather than 1 mg.
- 2
  Divide the mass value of 0.001 g by the density of the chemical, in units of grams per milliliter (g/mL). These are the most common metric system units of density. You can obtain the density of your chemical from the manufacturer's information, such as the material safety data sheet (MSDS) for the chemical.
- 3
  Report the result of the calculation as the volume of 1 mg of that chemical, in units of mL. For example, the density of liquid ethanol is 0.790 g/mL, so the calculation would be 0.001 g divided by 0.790 g/mL and you would report a volume of 0.00127 mL.

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