Calculations

[Moggypaws]

I can buy 80 grams of mealworms for 99p or 1 litre for £3. Which would be cheapest, please? The conversion tables are just for water.

[jake-the-peg]

This seems to suggest a litre is about 100g

if that's the case 80g for 99p would be cheaper

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/14005/t/10126.aspx

looks like 80g for 99p is a good deal 100g is £3.49 here

http://www.mealworms-online.com/3-litres-dried-mealworms-for-poultry.html

[Zacs-Master]

I have no idea how much 1 litre of mealworms would weigh or what volume 80g would be, so no way of comparing, really. Could you measure the 80g bag for us?

[Gizmonster]

I don't understand this .....
Grams is a measure of weight and litres is a measure of volume, so you can't compare the two, unless you have some info relating to x grams of mealworms being equivalent to y litres of mealworms ????

You mention "The conversion tables are just for water." .... but I don't see any conversion tables ??

[Buenchico]

Without knowing the density of mealworms (which isn't a figure which springs readily to mind!) it's not possible to answer your question.

Grams measure weight (or, more accurately, mass), whereas litres measure volume. Because the density of water is known (and conveniently 1g per cubic centimetre) it's easy to switch between the two measurements with water (or other liquids of roughly similar density) but not with substances of unknown densities.

Assuming that this is a decision that you'll need to make more than once, a simple piece of investigation is required. Buy the one litre pack and weigh the contents on your kitchen scales. If you've got more than 242g continue buying those packs; if you've got less, switch to the 80g packs.

[Moggypaws]

Thanks everyone. No I don't understand either - it's impossible to convert, that's why I asked for advice. The 99p ones were bought in Poundstretchers.

[Old_Geezer]

The secret is to buy one lot of each, then go back home and count them so you know next time.

[gingejbee]

I had exactly the same conundrum purchasing these things from Wilko.
Smaller amounts are in pouches (with weight specified) but larger amounts come in plastic containers (with volume specified). Talk about crazy.

[heathfield]

I agree, Ginge. Our local garden centre sells tubs of them marked by volume, big bags by weight, and both from the same company.
'Home Bargains' have bags at 99p for 100 gms - lowest price I've found. And, they're nice clean mealworms, none of those crumbly ones, like you get with some suppliers.

[Postdog]

A litre of water should weigh a kilogram as defined by the metric system. Therefore 80 kg should weigh the same as 80 ml.

On that basis buying by the litre seems the best option.

[gingejbee]

Postdog....the OP asked about buying dried mealworms, not water!
You're argument doesn't apply...unless their densities were the same.
And they are definitely not.

[Geek1]

I have weighed a Wilkinson's 100g tub of mealworms, which incidentally weighed 163g less the tub 47g = 116g, and measured them at about 650ml shaken down or 700ml unshaken. Taking the shaken down measurement this means that there are 4.62 of the 100g tubs in one of their 3L tubs. Currently the 3L tubs cost £8.99 so dividing that by 4.62 means that to break even you should not pay more than £1.95 for a 100g tub. Hope that helps.

[Geek1]

Based on my earlier answer relating to Wilkinson's mealworm, 80g of mealworm equates to about 520ml which would go 1.92 times into 1L. Therefore 1.92 x 99p = £1.90, so it would be much cheaper to buy the 80g.