How Much A Gram Weigh

A few weeks ago, I realized that I have pretty much zero intuition about how much a gram weighs. I know—kind of tragic, right?

Nope, not tragic at all. In fact, I run into it as an opportunity, because whenever I stumble upon something like this that I don't know, I'1000 a fan of figuring information technology out.

So, if you lot're at all like me and are non exactly certain just how heavy grams, ounces, pounds, stones, and tons are, then yous're in luck! Because that's exactly what we'll exist talking about today.

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Tip 1: Grams and Paper Clips

Let's boot things off by clearing upward my, perhaps your, and certainly everybody else'southward uncertainty nigh exactly how much 1 gram weighs. As nosotros've learned in a discussion of mass versus weight, I've actually confused the issue a chip in the previous sentence by proclaiming the gram to be a measure of weight—of course, information technology's more properly dubbed a measure of mass. And so, with that in mind, how much mass is 1 gram?

1 gram is about the mass of a metal paperclip.

The quick and muddied comparison to proceed in your caput is that i gram is near the mass of a metal paperclip. Or, if yous prefer, information technology's nearly the mass of a Us dollar neb. Every bit these comparisons show, 1 gram isn't much mass at all—at least past everyday standards. Although if y'all're a proton, you'd actually remember that ane gram is a huge mass, since a proton's mass is just nearly 1 trillion trillionth of a gram.

The gram is the cardinal unit of mass in the metric organization, merely you'll often hear masses measured in kilograms, too. A kilogram is but one,000 grams, which turns out to be pretty close to the mass of a pair of soccer balls.

Tip 2: Ounces and Pencils

As you'll remember from final week'due south show most the units we utilize to measure volume, the word "ounce" can refer to either a volume or a mass measurement. Equally we learned, the volumey kind of ounce is actually called the "fluid ounce," and then there really isn't all that much cause for confusion.

As we also learned, the quick and dingy way to think near ounces is to know that a pencil and an empty soda tin each weigh most 0.5 oz., and a tennis ball weighs about 2 oz. If y'all want a more than direct comparison, a slice of normal sandwich bread has a mass of roughly 1 ounce.

Ounces are the primary unit of measurement of mass used in the U.Due south. and a few other parts of the world—i.e., everywhere that isn't metric. If you're wondering how an ounce compares to a gram, it turns out that 1 ounce is a lot more mass than one gram. In fact, 1 ounce is approximately equal to 28.35 grams.

Tip iii: Pounds and Soccer Assurance

The weight of a standard sized soccer ball or football is approximately one pound.

For i reason or another, nearly of the states take learned at some point that 16 ounces is equal to what'due south called 1 pound—the favorite unit (in the U.Southward., at least) for measuring the mass of dogs, cats, fruit, humans, and pretty much everything else.

The quick and dingy method for intuiting ane pound of weight (or mass) is to know that the weight of a standard sized soccer ball or football (either kind) is approximately equal to ane pound.

A few fun facts about the pound:

The pound is abbreviated "lb," a seemingly odd pick until y'all find out that the pound evolved from the ancient Roman unit of weight called thelibra—hence the abridgement.
Fashion, way back in the day, the monetary unit known equally the British pound was actually related to the unit of measurement of weight of the same name. Once upon a time, a British pound was equal to the value of a pound of silvery. Needless to say, this human relationship no longer holds.

Tip 4: Stones and Bags of Sugar

Folks in the U.Due south. tend to measure their weight (or mass) in pounds, merely people in Britain tend to apply a unit of measurement called the stone. A rock is simply equal to 14 pounds, and then a person who weighs 170 pounds equivalently weighs a little over 12 stone.

My favorite quick and dirty manner to think intuitively about weights in the 10-xx pound range—and thus, in the 1 stone range—is in terms of bags of sugar. Yes, you read that right: bags of sugar. Nearly standard-sized bags of carbohydrate sold in the U.S. weigh 5 pounds, which means that my beloved 1 stone cat weighs a fiddling less than three bags of sugar.

A Boeing 747 weighs well-nigh 370 tons.

Tip 5: Tons, Dairy Cows, and 747s

Permit's wrap things up past stepping fashion upwardly the mass scale to talk about the unit known every bit the ton. This is 1 of those units which has a technical meaning, but has too made its way into colloquial usage. When something is extremely heavy, we often say information technology "weighs a ton."

But if nosotros're existence more than precise about things, how much does that ton actually weigh? That depends on what kind of ton nosotros're talking about.

The regular, old-fashioned ton is equal to 2,000 pounds. The metric ton, on the other hand, is equal to 1,000 kg—which turns out to be well-nigh 2,205 pounds. Either way, a ton is a ton of mass. If you'd like some quick and muddied ways to recollect nearly just how much mass this is, typical dairy cows (which, if you've e'er been right side by side to one, yous know are huge) weigh almost a ton, while pocket-size cars weigh almost 2 tons, a blue whale weighs about 200 tons, and a Boeing 747 weighs near 370 tons.

Wrap Up

OK, that's all the weights and measures we accept time for today.

Delight exist certain to cheque out my book, opens in a new windowThe Math Dude's Quick and Dirty Guide to Algebra. And remember to become a fan of The Math Dude on opens in a new windowFacebook, where yous'll discover lots of great math posted throughout the week. If you lot're on opens in a new windowTwitter, please follow me there, too.

Until next time, this is Jason Marshall with opens in a new window The Math Dude's Quick and Muddy Tips to Brand Math Easier . Thank you for reading, math fans!

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