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The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in both the British imperial and United States customary systems of measurement.Various definitions have been used; the most common today is the international avoirdupois pound, which is legally defined as exactly 0.453 592 37 kilograms, and which is divided into 16 avoirdupois ounces. [1]
The teaspoon, tablespoon, and cup are defined in terms of a fluid ounce as 1 ⁄ 6, 1 ⁄ 2, and 8 fluid ounces respectively. The fluid ounce derives its name originally from being the volume of one ounce avoirdupois of water, [ 21 ] but in the US it is defined as 1 ⁄ 128 of a US gallon.
An ounce-force is 1 ⁄ 16 of a pound-force, or about 0.2780139 newtons. It is defined as the force exerted by a mass of one avoirdupois ounce under standard gravity (at the surface of the earth, its weight). The "ounce" in "ounce-force" is equivalent to an avoirdupois ounce; ounce-force is a measurement of force using avoirdupois ounces.
The British imperial system uses a stone of 14 lb, a long hundredweight of 112 lb and a long ton of 2,240 lb. The stone is not a measurement of weight used in the US. The US customary system uses the short hundredweight of 100 lb and short ton of 2,000 lb. Where these systems most notably differ is in their units of volume.
Such scales are used to make the most accurate of fine measurements, such as in the needs of empirical chemistry. Avoirdupois (/ ˌ æ v ər d ə ˈ p ɔɪ z, ˌ æ v w ɑːr dj uː ˈ p w ɑː /; [1] abbreviated avdp.) [2] is a measurement system of weights that uses pounds and ounces as units. [3] [4] It was first commonly used in the 13th ...
1 ⁄ 7000 of a pound Dram/drachm (dr) ≈1.772 g: sixteenth of an ounce (possibly originated as the weight of silver in Ancient Greek coin drachma) Ounce (oz) ≈28.35 g: 1 oz = 16 dr = 437.5 grains Pound (lb) ≈453.6 g: 1 lb = 16 oz = 7000 grains ('lb' is an abbreviation for the Ancient Roman unit libra) Stone (st) 6.35 kg
Another difference arose when Britain abolished the troy pound (373.241 7216 g) on 1 January 1879, leaving only the troy ounce (31.103 4768 g) and its decimal subdivisions, whereas the troy pound (of 12 troy ounces) and pennyweight are still legal in the United States, although they are no longer widely used.
The former Weights and Measures office in Seven Sisters, London (590 Seven Sisters Road). The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial [1] or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed through a series of Weights and Measures Acts and amendments.