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A cubic centimetre or cubic centimeter (symbol cm3—the abbreviation cc, though widely used, is deprecated) is a commonly used unit of volume extending the derived SI-unit cubic metre and corresponds to the volume of a cube measuring 1 cm × 1 cm × 1 cm. One cubic centimetre corresponds to a volume of 1⁄1,000,000 of a cubic metre, or 1⁄1000 of a litre; therefore, 1 cm3 ≡ 1 mL.
In many scientific fields, the use of cubic centimetres has been replaced by the millilitre. The medical and automotive fields are two of the few fields wherein the term cubic centimetre was never discontinued in the United States. In the United Kingdom millilitres are used in preference to cubic centimetres in the medical field, but not the automotive. Most other English-speaking countries follow the UK example, but the use of cubic centmetres persists everywhere.
There is currently a movement within the medical field to discontinue the use of "cc" in prescriptions and on medical documents as it can be mis-read as "00" if poor handwriting is used, which can result in a massive, even lethal, overdose of medication. In the United States, confusion between "cc" and "mL" accounts for 12.6% of all errors associated with medical abbreviations.[1] While "cc" is not officially prohibited per the Joint Commission's "Do Not Use" list of prohibited abbreviations,[2] it is on the list as a candidate for possible inclusion on future lists, with "ml" or "milliliters" as suggested replacements.
The mass of one cubic centimetre of water at 3.98 °C (the temperature at which it attains its maximal density) is equal to 1 gram.
The symbol cc is still most commonly used in medicine to describe the volumes of doses and in descriptions of the size of internal combustion engines where it describes the total volume of the piston displacement.
References
- ^ Brunetti, Luigi; Santell, John & Hicks, Rodney (September 2007), Stevenson, James, ed., "The Impact of Abbreviations on Patient Safety", The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety 33(9): 8, <http://psnet.ahrq.gov/public/Brunetti_JCJQPS_2007.pdf>
- ^ The Joint Commission Official "Do Not Use" List, The Joint Commission, <http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/2329F8F5-6EC5-4E21-B932-54B2B7D53F00/0/06_dnu_list.pdf>
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