1

I don't have a measuring glass. I just have a tablespoon (15 ml). Can 1 tea spoon be considered half of 1 table spoon?

Aquarius_Girl
  • 7,275
  • 60
  • 155
  • 206
  • 2
    I've found that in most cases a regular old tea spoon (i.e. not an actual measuring spoon, just whatever you use to stir coffee/tea) is pretty close to the correct amount anyway - and if your recipe is giving teaspoon measurements to begin with then you don't need to be very precise. – Aaronut Feb 16 '12 at 14:24
  • @Aaronut We stir the the tea/coffee with table spoons. That's the only spoon we have. And I used to think those spoons to be tea spoons! – Aquarius_Girl Feb 16 '12 at 14:32

1 Answers1

10

One tablespoon is three teaspoons, so no, it can't be considered half a tablespoon because it's one-third instead :)

You can use three teaspoons to measure out one tablespoon, but it might be tricky to measure the other way: as Rumstacio said below, the 1/3 is by volume, and it can be difficult to eyeball the volume of a semi-sphere (1.3 the height of the spoon is not 1/3 the volume because it's wider at the top).

Yamikuronue
  • 8,776
  • 20
  • 71
  • 108
  • In other words, the correct answer is 1/3, not 1/2. – Aaronut Feb 16 '12 at 14:23
  • 2
    It is 1/3 by volume - it doesn't mean that if you fill the spoon to 1/3 the height you have the correct amount. (This should be obvious, but I know lots of people who call a spoon filled to half the height "half a spoon"). If you don't have any method of measuring it at least once (e.g. fill a syringe with 5 ml of water, see how high the water comes in your tablespoon), this information doesn't help you much with measurements. – rumtscho Feb 16 '12 at 15:26
  • @rumtscho Good point, added a note about that – Yamikuronue Feb 16 '12 at 15:29