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It is used in some Commonwealth countries, and until 1976 was defined as the volume of water at 62 °F (16.67 °C) [5] [6] whose mass is 10 pounds (4.5359237 kg). There are four imperial quarts in a gallon, two imperial pints in a quart, and there are 20 imperial fluid ounces in an imperial pint, [4] yielding 160 fluid ounces in an imperial gallon.
Both the 42-US-gallon (159 L) barrels (based on the old English wine measure), the tierce (159 litres) and the 40-US-gallon (150 L) whiskey barrels were used. Also, 45-US-gallon (170 L) barrels were in common use. The 40 gallon whiskey barrel was the most common size used by early oil producers, since they were readily available at the time.
Many drums nominally measure just under 880 millimetres (35 in) tall with a diameter just under 610 millimetres (24 in), and have a common nominal volume of 208 litres (55 US gal) whereas the barrel volume of crude oil is 42 US gallons (159 L). In the United States, 25-US-gallon (95-litre) drums are also in common use and have the same height.
An imperial pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter (20 oz). There are varying standards for barrel for some specific commodities, including 31 gallons for beer, 40 gallons for whiskey or kerosene, and 42 gallons for petroleum. The general standard for liquids is 31.5 gal or half a hogshead.
The American Heritage Dictionary claims that a hogshead can consist of anything from (presumably) 62.5 to 140 US gallons (52 to 117 imp gal; 237 to 530 L). A hogshead of Madeira wine was approximately equal to 45–48 gallons (0.205–0.218 m 3). A hogshead of brandy was approximately equal to 56–61 gallons (0.255–0.277 m 3). [citation needed]
Typically a large vat or vessel, most often holding 252 wine gallons, but occasionally other sizes (e.g. 256, 240 and 208 gallons) were also used. [2] The modern tun is about 954 litres. The word tun is etymologically related to the word ton for the unit of mass, the mass of a tun of wine being approximately one long ton , which is 2 240 pounds ...
[nb 2] Note that a 252-gallon tun of wine has a mass of approximately 2060 pounds, [6] between a short ton (2000 pounds) and a long ton (2240 pounds). The tun is approximately the volume of a cylinder with both diameter and height of 42 inches, as the gallon was originally a cylinder with diameter of 7 inches and height of 6.
In 1824, these units were replaced with a single system based on the imperial gallon. [a] Originally defined as the volume of 10 pounds (4.54 kg) of distilled water (under certain conditions), [b] then redefined by the Weights and Measures Act 1985 to be exactly 4.546 09 L (277.4 cu in), the imperial gallon is close in size to the old ale gallon.