The liter is defined as the volume occupied, under standard conditions, by a quantity of pure water having a mass of 1 kilogram. This volume is very nearly equal to 1 000 cubic centimeters or 1 cubic decimeter; the actual metric equivalent is, 1 liter=1 000.028 cubic centimeters. (The change in this equivalent from the previously published value of 1 000.027 is based on a recomputation of earlier data, carried out at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.) Thus the milliliter and the liter are larger than the cubic centimeter and the cubic decimeter, respectively, by 28 parts in 1 000 000; except for determinations of high precision, this difference is so small as to be of no consequence.