• Aux@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    No, we don’t refer to mass when weighing something. Measuring mass is quite hard, measuring weight is simple - just use scales.

    • HopFlop@discuss.tchncs.de
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      8 months ago

      In both the British Imperial System and the US Customary Units, a pound is a unit of mass, defined as 0.45359237 kg. In fact, all the definitions in the section “Weights and Masses” of the US Cusomaries are defined in either kg, g or mg.

      • Buffaloaf@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        A pound is a unit of force, slug is mass. There’s also lbm (pound-mass) which is what I think you’re thinking of, but that’s not the standard

        • HopFlop@discuss.tchncs.de
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          8 months ago

          A pound is actually not a unit of force. At least not in the US Customary System nor in the British Imperial System. They both are defined as units of mass. Both systems define the standard pound as the “avoirdupois pound”, a unit of mass. The US Customary System doesnt even include a unit of force.

          “Pound-mass” comes from the “English Engineering Units” which differentiates between pounds-mass and pounds-force.

          “Pound” is not a unit of force in any current system. Its the standard unit of mass (slug is also a unit of mass but usually not used). Feel free to provide any source that states that pound is a unit of force.

    • Zacryon@feddit.de
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      8 months ago

      If you use a scale, the force acting upon the mass is calculated out such that you get a mass displayed.