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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 avoirdupois weight system is thought to have come into use in England around 1300. [citation needed] It was originally used for weighing wool. In the early 14th century several other specialized weight systems were used, including the weight system of the Hanseatic League with a 16-ounce pound of 7200 grains and an 8-ounce mark.
British imperial measures distinguish between weight and volume. Weight is measured in ounces and pounds (avoirdupois) as in the U.S. Volume is measured in imperial gallons, quarts, pints, fluid ounces, and fluid drachms. The imperial gallon was originally defined as 10 pounds (4.5359 kg) of water in 1824, and refined as exactly 4.54609 litres ...
The pound in question is the Tower pound. The Tower pound, abolished in 1527, consisted of 12 ounces like the troy pound, but was 1 ⁄ 16 (≈6%) lighter. The weight of the original sterling pennies was 22½ troy grains, or 32 "Tower grains". [26]: 116
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.
Troy weight, avoirdupois weight, and apothecaries' weight are all built from the same basic unit, the grain, which is the same in all three systems. However, while each system has some overlap in the names of their units of measure (all have ounces and pounds), the relationship between the grain and these other units within each system varies.
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One slug is a mass equal to 32.17405 lb (14.59390 kg) based on standard gravity, the international foot, and the avoirdupois pound. [3] In other words, at the Earth's surface (in standard gravity), an object with a mass of 1 slug weighs approximately 32.17405 lbf or 143.1173 N. [ 4 ] [ 5 ]