Trick Question on Weights and Measures

You've already had your answer. Are you fishing for an answer that supports what you wrote on your test/homework?

The question is ill-posed. As others have answered, the troy pound is no longer in use, so the question is ambiguous. Ask about ounces, where the answer is clear (troy ounce > avoirdupois ounce), or about kilograms, where the answer is also clear (a kg is a kg is a kg).

 

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If I was looking for an answer that supported my previous posts, I would stop now because I see you've included them in your summary.

But can that be right? "A Pound of Gold" literally doesn't exist?

 

Oh well...I guess you got me there

 

:dead-horse:
Talking about weights (or masses), just wanted to mention that in our jet-powered, laser-aimed age, the standard for the kilogram mass is still a chunk of platinum-irridium alloy. There are a few of these stored by different governments around the earth, and the scary thing is that in the most recent checks by the international body that checks these things, they have started to change and no one has the faintest idea why!

 

the original question doesn't state "a pound of feathers or a troy pound of gold." it says "a pound." i guess the right answer is they weigh equal, unless you measure one in troy pounds, and the other not in troy pounds.

 

A pound is a pound is a pound.

They weigh the same........

 

I know its beating a dead horse, but in the US if you talk about a pound of PM, to me at least its assumed you are talking about a troy pound, which is lighter than a pound of anything else. So, my vote is a pound of feathers weighs more than a pound of gold, given common assumptions.

Btw, for the whole falling thing, anyone ever consider that the gold could be beat into slower falling gold leaf so even not in a vacuum the feather would fall faster? If someone wanted to get nit picky.

 

Just had to say gold, didn't you? Couldn't have said rocks, dirt, or even copper.

 

Chris, I went to the deli today and ordered a pound of ham and a pound of cheese. They both weighed the same........

 

Yes sir, that was my point. A pound of everything else is measured differently than PM, so a pound of cheese, ham, feathers, lead, stone, etc ad nauseum is heavier than a troy pound of gold. However, if you use the word "pound" in connection with gold I believe most in the know would assume a troy pound.

Btw how much you pay for that cheese? We sell it for about $1.55 a pound nowadays, (truckloads of course).

 

how many people are "in the know?" if you say a pound to me, it's a pound. period. except... if you say a troy pound, then i know it's different than a pound, clearly, because you said troy pound. and if you're in england and say pound, i think money.

 

Yeah, maybe I am just the oddball. If you say a pound of silver, I am thinking its 12 troy ounces, not 16 regular ounces. But, I have been known to be the odd man out.

 

each to their own. i'm the odd man out on so many other things. :yes:

 

Yeah, but my wife likes the fancy imported cheese, and the way those prices run, it should​ be measured by the troy ounce...

 

Well, assuming it is a coin(think its British, don't pay attention to foreign money), you could make a thing out of feathers and gold, and the gold would be more dense, so the gold is the heavier. Get it, a Pound.

 

That's the trouble with us sometimes Chris.....we read too much into what is being stated. The OP mentioned 'pound' and it's at that that I take his word.


And we pay too dad blamed much for cheese in the NY metro area. Wish I was out there in the 'heartland' where the cheese (and meat) prices are a bit more reasonable........

 

1 pound = 1 pound. They weight the same.