Why grams depend on the ingredient
Volume measures space; weight measures matter. A US cup is always 236.6 ml, but what that cup weighs depends entirely on what's in it: 120 g of all-purpose flour, 200 g of granulated sugar, 227 g of butter, 340 g of honey. That's why cup-to-gram conversion needs a density table — and why this converter asks for the ingredient first. Volume-to-volume conversions (cups to tablespoons to ml) are the same for everything.
The flour problem — and why bakers weigh
Flour compresses. A cup scooped straight from the bag packs down and can weigh 145 g or more, while the standard spooned-and-leveled cup is 120 g — a 20%+ swing that's the difference between tender and dense baked goods. Professional recipes list grams because a scale removes the technique variable entirely. If a recipe gives weights, use them; this tool's cup figures assume the spooned-and-leveled standard.
The volume ladder, worth memorizing
1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons = 236.6 ml (US). So a tablespoon is 3 teaspoons (~14.8 ml) and a quarter cup is 4 tablespoons. Note that Australian tablespoons are 20 ml (4 teaspoons) and a metric cup is 250 ml, so international recipes deserve a quick unit check before you start measuring.
How to use this converter
Select the ingredient first, because gram weights depend on it, then enter an amount in any unit — cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, milliliters, or grams — and read every equivalent. Volume-to-volume results are the same for all ingredients; only the gram column changes with the ingredient you pick.
A worked example
A recipe calls for 2 cups of all-purpose flour but you'd rather weigh it. At the spooned-and-leveled standard of 120 g per cup, that's 240 g. The same 2 cups of granulated sugar would be 400 g, and 2 cups of honey a hefty 680 g — identical volume, very different weights. In volume terms those 2 cups are always 32 tablespoons or about 473 ml, no matter what's in the cup.