Probably everyone has heard of the English scale. Not surprisingly, many countries of the world once used it. Yes, and Russian measures often did not differ much from it, like many European ones, although there were differences. But today, not every person knows about them, not to mention how much a pound weighs or how many grains are in one gram. Therefore, it will be very useful to talk about it.
Where it is used
It would seem that everything is simple - the English measure of weight should be used in England or the UK. But it will surprise many that this is not the case at all. Just the whole of Great Britain officially abandoned the system, which is considered obsolete, back in 1995. However, in many places they are not going to get used to a simpler and more convenient system, preferring to use the usual weight measures that their ancestors used for many generations.
But still, in some countries, mainly those that were once colonies of England, the English system of measures has been preserved, and to abandon itnot going here.
The largest conservative country that is not going to switch to the metric system, which is used by almost the whole world, is, of course, the USA. Here you can not ask for a kilogram of meat or a liter of juice in the store. Will have to order two and a quarter pounds of meat or two pints of drink.
But the US is not the only country where these measures of weight have not become a relic of the past and are officially supported by the state. It also includes Liberia and Myanmar. The second was once a British colony. And the first was artificially created by the US government in the middle of the nineteenth century, hoping that the liberated blacks would be able to return to their homeland, getting rid of prejudice, completely eradicating slavery. Alas, the noble plan failed - most of yesterday's slaves did not want to go to their native Africa. Those who were forcibly brought there quickly killed part of the local population, expanding the land given to them and driving the rest into slavery. Of course, along with the usual way of life, they also retained English weights.
Some areas of Canada also use the old measures, but they are becoming less common, and the government prefers to use the metric system.
Basic measures
The smallest measure present in the English system is gran. It is only 65 milligrams.
Next comes an ounce - 28 grams. But if there is not enough intermediate unit, then in some cases a drachma is used, which is 1/16 of an ounce, or 1.77 grams.
The most common unit of measure in everyday life is the pound. Asits weight is 454 grams, then converting pounds to kilograms is done simply by dividing by a factor of 2.2.
The stone is officially used. In practice, however, it is long gone. The weight of one stone (stone) is 6.35 kilograms or 14 pounds.
The spread between the pound and the stone is quite large, which is not very convenient when counting. But in fact, between them there are two intermediate measures, already almost forgotten by the English and American inhabitants, the quarter (3.5 pounds or 1.59 kilograms) and the clove (half a stone or 7 pounds or 3.18 kilograms).
Then in ascending order are: tod (2 stone or 12.7 kg), cental (100 pounds or 45.36 kg). Further, tons are usually used. But not everything is so simple here either - there is both a metric ton (1000 kg) and a large one, equal to 1016 kg.
As you can see, the English scale is very complicated. It is not at all easy to carry out calculations in it, even remembering all the units of measurement accurately. That is why today almost all countries where it was used have abandoned it in favor of a much simpler and more convenient metric.
What is a gran?
Most often this term is heard today by people who are interested in both the history of weapons and modern rifles, machine guns and, accordingly, ammunition. It is in grains that experts prefer to measure the amount of powder. This unit of measure, which is only 65 milligrams, is used today in the United States, and before the revolution and the introduction of the metric system in 1927, it was also used in our country.
Gran owes its name to the Latin term granum, which translates as "grain". Indeed, it was experimentally established that one grain of barley weighed just 65 milligrams on average.
However, as is often the case with similar weights, today there are several types of grain. Only the classic used by gunsmiths is 65 milligrams. But jewelers have simplified all the measures they are used to, as a result, a jewelry grain is a quarter of a carat, or 50 mg.
Transferring grains to grams is very simple - just divide the number of grains by a factor of 15, 4.
A little about an ounce
But this measure is often heard by everyone who is interested in the prices of precious metals. Silver, gold, platinum and others are sold on stock exchanges in ounces, not grams or kilograms.
An ounce, as mentioned above, equals 28 grams.
An ounce got its name back in Ancient Greece. The term uncia means 1/12 of something. Therefore, in Hellas, the ounce was used both as a measure of length, and weight, and volume. In this case, it weighed 1/12 of the libra, a unit of weight equal to 327.5 grams.
However, bankers and jewelers have changed the weight a little - so it turned out to be a troy ounce. It is equal to 31 grams and it is this unit that is used when weighing gold.
So if you want to know the weight of an ounce in grams, you just need to multiply the figure by 31.
How did the pound come about?
This is the mosta common unit of weight in the United States. And the name pound also came to the world from Ancient Rome. After all, the term pondus, a weight, became the prototype.
The most convenient measure of weight, it has over a hundred interpretations. Each kingdom in Europe and even each feudal lord set this value as the most convenient for himself. For example, the Russian pound weighed 409 grams, while the modern American pound is 10% larger - 453 grams. Since 1835, there was even a standard - a pound of pure platinum.
Converting pounds to kilograms is quite easy - the weight is divided by 453, resulting in the desired number.
Conclusion
The article is coming to an end. From it you learned not only about the various English weights, but also about their origin, ratio, translation into the metric system. And at the same time we made a short digression into history, learning a little more about different countries.
