5 ms·

The standard abbreviation for litre is uppercase L.

usr1106 5y ago
Actually ISO mentions both. (Of course they don't define it because the standard unit would for volume would be m³.) So maybe usage really depends on country, I have lived and worked in several European countries, all of them use a small letter. https://web.archive.org/web/20170814094625/http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20170814094625/http://www.bipm.o... The first random picture seems to confirm that in the US a capital L is used. https://murraybrand.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/crystal_organic_milk_lineup.jpg https://murraybrand.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/crystal_o...
- schoen 5y ago
  Wikipedia says > Since 1979, the litre may exceptionally be written using either an uppercase "L" or a lowercase "l", a decision prompted by the similarity of the lowercase letter "l" to the numeral "1", especially with certain typefaces or English-style handwriting. The American NIST recommends that within the United States "L" be used rather than "l". In European measurement contexts I've sometimes seen ℓ (with a script l), but I'm not sure I've seen plain l. (However, I live in the U.S. and might not have as much exposure to European references to liters.)
  - usr1106 5y ago
    The rule is that units named by persons use a capital letter (Kelvin, Tesla, Newton, others use a small one (meter, gram). According to the rule liter was designated by a small l. In 1979 the capital L was recognized by SI (as non-SI unit), too. (I don't know whether the script form was recognized at the same time). According the German Wikipedia capital L is used mainly in English speaking countries. Which makes sense because in handwriting the American (not so sure about the British) digit 1 and small letter l cannot really be distinguished. So 1 liter written as 1 l would be hard to read. In Germany the digit 1 nearly unviversally has a rising stroke on the left in handwriting, so 1 l is not a problem. German Wikipedia says capital L is not used by ISO.

Actually ISO mentions both. (Of course they don't define it because the standard unit would for volume would be m³.) So maybe usage really depends on country, I have lived and worked in several European countries, all of them use a small letter. https://web.archive.org/web/20170814094625/http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20170814094625/http://www.bipm.o... The first random picture seems to confirm that in the US a capital L is used. https://murraybrand.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/crystal_organic_milk_lineup.jpg https://murraybrand.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/crystal_o...

schoen 5y ago
Wikipedia says > Since 1979, the litre may exceptionally be written using either an uppercase "L" or a lowercase "l", a decision prompted by the similarity of the lowercase letter "l" to the numeral "1", especially with certain typefaces or English-style handwriting. The American NIST recommends that within the United States "L" be used rather than "l". In European measurement contexts I've sometimes seen ℓ (with a script l), but I'm not sure I've seen plain l. (However, I live in the U.S. and might not have as much exposure to European references to liters.)
- usr1106 5y ago
  The rule is that units named by persons use a capital letter (Kelvin, Tesla, Newton, others use a small one (meter, gram). According to the rule liter was designated by a small l. In 1979 the capital L was recognized by SI (as non-SI unit), too. (I don't know whether the script form was recognized at the same time). According the German Wikipedia capital L is used mainly in English speaking countries. Which makes sense because in handwriting the American (not so sure about the British) digit 1 and small letter l cannot really be distinguished. So 1 liter written as 1 l would be hard to read. In Germany the digit 1 nearly unviversally has a rising stroke on the left in handwriting, so 1 l is not a problem. German Wikipedia says capital L is not used by ISO.