Ounces And Troy Ounces

Metric Weight
# Ounces as Defined per Pound
Use in Weighing

Troy ounce
31.10 grams
12
Precious metals.

Avoirdupois ounce
28.35 grams
16
Every day items.

I think most bullion will be weighed in troy ounces even if it isn't implied that its Troy

Actually, a Newton would be considered a biscuit in most English speaking nations with the metric system :)

G'day, I hadn't realized that President CARTER was so forward-looking.
Australia did not officially adopt the "metric" system until 1974, but it was taught in schools for a decade before that.

I haven't heard of cookies/biscuits "Newtons": but I bet they're not as good as Tim Tams.
What I call a biscuit, my sons call cookies: I don't know if that's attributable to their school, or to their mother.


quote: "My brain can't handle the metric system ..."
- having learned both, the metric system is vastly simpler.

Some anomalies (this is for advanced students only):
1. the building industry uses millimetres, while the rest of us use centimetres.
2. wheels and tyres are described by measuring the width in millimetres, but the diameter in inches. So, my car has wheels that are described as "205x15".
3. the measurement of angles: apart from the Army, I don't think anyone has adopted the radian or milliradian, in preference to the familiar degree.
Peter

There is a Excel spread sheet that converts anything you could imagine from one thing to another. I've got a copy of it on my hard drive but don't know how to copy it to here. It might be also available if you try Google for converting things. It's a great program so wish I knew how to paste it here.

That's true but sure is nice having a program that changes just about everything from one to another. Possibly there is place in Google where that is available.

As a science teacher it is complete sadness that we haven't gone to metric. I wonder if the rest of the world doesn't just shake their heads at us.

Anyway, from what I understand a troy ounce is 1.33... of a regular (Av) ounce. Someone check me on this.

By common practice, at least gold and silver are weighed in troy ounces.

The metric system, in a few paragraphs.

This is my "metrics for dummies", a shirtsleeve comparison good for rough calculations:

a meter (distance) is roughly a yard, plus 10%
a liter (volume) is roughly a quart, plus 10%
a kilogram (weight) is roughly two pounds, plus 10%

So if you know what yard of fabric, a quart of milk and a pound of butter are, you've got the basics.

The Latin mille passum (thousand paces) is commonly translated as a mile. It's actually a kilometer, since a pace is about three feet (a yard). So if someone told you to go a kilometer, start walking and count one for each time you put a foot down. When you hit 1000, you're there.

You now know everything you need to know about the metric system for everyday use.

But what about all those conversions? Pure crap. If you want to know the metric size of a desk, you don't measure it in British and then multiple it by a conversion. You simply measure it with a metric ruler. If you want to know how many liters, you use a liter measuring cup, etc.

The true beauty of the metric system is that everything interlocks.

1000cc = 1000ml = 1000g of water exactly, by definition

the amount of heat required to raise 1cc of water from 0° to 1°C is exactly 1 calorie, by definition.

the weight of anything in grams is its specific gravity times its cc volume, exactly, by definition

For example, you have a platinum bar that's 1*2*5 cm. How much does it weigh? 10cc*21.4=214g.

Same bar, weighs 104.9g. It's a fake bar made of silver.

Now, try the same calculation for a bar ½"*1"*2½". I could do the metric calculations in my head, instantly. Most people can't do the English with a calculator.

But what about miles vs kilometers?

Just read the numbers on the odometer. If I were to put you on a bicycle on a straight road and asked you to drive exactly a mile, you probably couldn't do it, so it doesn't matter that you couldn't go exactly a kilometer. All that matters is that whatever you use to measure the distance can do it.