What Is a Microliter Definition and Example

While the liter is the standard metric unit of volume, its much too large to use in certain laboratory situations. Other common units include the milliliter and microliter. Microliter Definition A microliter is a unit of volume equal to 1/1,000,000th of a liter (one-millionth). A microliter is one cubic millimeter. The symbol for microliter is ÃŽ ¼l or ÃŽ ¼L. 1 ÃŽ ¼L 10-6 L 10-3 mL. Alternate Spelling: microlitre Plurals: microliters, microlitres The microliter is a small volume, yet measurable in a typical laboratory. An example of when you might use microliter volumes would be in preparation of an electrophoresis sample, when isolating DNA, or during chemical purification. Microliters are measured and dispensed using micropipettes. Example: My sample had a volume of 256Â  ÃŽ ¼L.