Choose the ingredient before trusting the number
A cup of flour is much lighter than a cup of sugar, butter, or water. The table therefore keeps the ingredient name beside every result instead of answering 3½ cups with one misleading gram figure.
The calculations use PantryGauge's existing source-backed density records: 120 g per US cup for flour, 198 g for granulated sugar, 226 g for butter, and 227 g for water/milk.
US cups and recipe conventions
This page uses a US cooking cup. Metric and Australian recipes may use a 250 mL cup, and the result can change when the ingredient is measured by a different regional convention. Follow the recipe's stated milliliters or country when supplied.
For flour, spoon and level rather than dipping and compacting. For brown sugar, pack only when the recipe says packed. For liquids, use a liquid measuring jug and read at eye level.
The reverse calculation
To convert cups to grams, multiply the cup amount by that ingredient's grams-per-cup reference. To reverse the direction, divide grams by the same reference. PantryGauge keeps both directions available through the main converter and ingredient guides.
Questions readers ask
How many grams is 3½ cups of flour?
Using PantryGauge's 120 g-per-US-cup flour reference, 3½ cups is about 420 g. A different flour type or measuring method can change the result.
How many grams is 3½ cups of sugar?
Using the 198 g-per-US-cup granulated sugar reference, 3½ cups is about 693 g.
Is 3½ cups always the same number of grams?
No. The ingredient's density and preparation state determine the mass.
Is 3½ cups the same as 3.5 cups?
Yes. They are two ways of writing the same volume; the ingredient still needs to be selected before converting to grams.
Sources and method
Numerical answers are tied to the stated ingredient, state, cup convention, and source. Derived values are calculated from the cited reference and rounded for kitchen use.