In article , Dan Coby wrote:
diggerop wrote:
"Dan Coby" wrote in message
m...

The part in my earlier post about the metric system having two slightly different
versions is still relevant and a great source of confusion and errors. Why is
the unit of volume a litre and not a cubic meter?

The first thing that comes to mind is that a cubic metre is 1000 litres ; )

Yes, an example of a 'hidden' power of ten conversion factor i.e. 1000. Why
chose a cubic decimeter as a unit of volume?

For the same reason that the Imperial system uses the quart or the gallon for
most everyday volume measurements, instead of the cubic yard: because it's a
convenient size.

For the mks system it should be
a cubic meter.

Things that are measured in cubic yards in the Imperial system *are* measured
in cubic meters in the metric system.