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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 ...
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 ]
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.
A US fluid ounce is 1 / 16 of a US pint (about 1·04 UK fluid ounces or 29.6 mL); a UK fluid ounce is 1 / 20 of a UK pint (about 0·96 US fluid ounce or 28.4 mL). On a larger scale, perhaps for institutional cookery, a UK gallon is 8 UK pints (160 UK fluid ounces; about 1·2 US gallons or 4.546 litres), whereas the US gallon is ...
The apothecaries and troy pounds are divided into 12 ounces (of 480 grains) while the avoirdupois pound has 16 ounces (of 437.5 grains). The unit of volume, the gallon, has different values in the United States and in the United Kingdom – the US fluid gallon being about 0.83 imperial gallons and the US dry gallon being about 0.97 imperial ...
Precious metals, for example, are often weighed in "troy ounces", because just "ounce" would be more likely to be assumed to mean an avoirdupois ounce. For the pound and smaller units, the U.S. customary system and the British imperial system are identical. However, they differ when dealing with units larger than the pound.
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.
English-speaking countries also used a system of units of fluid measure, or in modern terminology volume units, based on the apothecaries' system. Originally, the terms and symbols used to describe the volume measurements of liquids were the same as or similar to those used to describe weight measurements of solids [33] (for example, the pound by weight and the fluid pint were both referred to ...