How much is a stone? A Stone is an imperial unit and English unit of mass and it is equal to 14 pounds or Approximately 6.35 kg. Stone is the unit of weight. It is also called “stone weight”. The word “stone weight” is taken from the past when people used stones for weighing things. Even at present, we see many vegetables and fruits vendors who use stones as the mode of weighing vegetables and fruits. The symbol of stone is “st”. England and Germanic-speaking countries of northern Europe used many standardized “stones” for trade in the past. The values of these stones were ranging about 5 to 40 pounds (approximately 3 to 15 kg) depending on the objects weighed and location. In 1987, when a method called “metric units” was adopted by the agriculture sector, then the stone was no longer used for trade and it was removed from the list of units permitted for trade in the United Kingdom.
Imperial System
The imperial system of units is the system that is first defined in the British Weight and Measures Act 1824 (the act of the British Parliament to determine the regulation of weight and measures). It was continued to develop through a series of Weights and Measures Acts and amendments. The system came into official use in 1826, across British Empire. The imperial system of units is called imperial system, imperial units, British imperial, or Exchequer Standards of 1826. By the late 20th century, many nations officially adopted the “metric system” as their main system for measurement. But the United Kingdom and some other countries of the British Empire still used the imperial system of units for measurement.
History
The imperial system of units evolved from the thousand of Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and customary local units employed in the Middle Ages. The traditional names such as pound, foot, and gallon were used widely but their values varied with time, trade, place, product specification, and dozens of other requirements. In the 14th century, the “yard” was equal to 3 feet. One foot is equal to 12 inches. One inch is was equal to the length of 3 barleycorns. Units of capacity and weight were also specified by people. In the 15th century, King Henry VII presented Winchester measures (a set of legal standards of volume) and these were used for measurements. In the 16th century, the “rod” was defined which was equal to 5.5 yards of 16.5 feet. Rod was a learning device and it was not a standard unit. In the 17th century, usage and statue had developed “acre”, “rod”, and “furlong”. Different trade pounds were reduced to just two: the troy pound was used for measuring precious metals and avoirdupois was used to measure other goods.
The Weight and Measure Act of 1824 and 1827 gave rise to the British Imperial System of Units. This system is based on the précised definitions of selected existing units. Wine, ale, and corn gallons were used in general and these all were replaced by a single imperial gallon. The new imperial gallon was equal to 10 pounds of distilled water weighed at 62°F with the barometer 30 inches, or 277.421 cubic inches. Troy pound and the imperial yard were also new units presented by the imperial system but later these were restricted for weighing drugs, precious metals, and jewels. In 1963, the act redefined the standard yard as 0.9144 meters and pound as 0.45359237 kg.
In the 19th century, the United States adopted units based on those discarded by the act of 1824. According to this U.S. system, the “bushel” is equal to 2150.42 cubics inches which were 3 times smaller than the British imperial bushel.
Imperial units
Imperial units for length
Length is the measurement of something from end to end. The imperial units of length are given below:
| Name of unit | Symbol | Length in feet | Length in meter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thou | Th | 1/12000 | 0.00002254 |
| Barleycorn | Bc | 1/36 | 0.0084667 |
| Inch | in” | 1/12 | 0.0254 |
| Foot | ft,’ | 1 | 0.3048 |
| Yard | Yd | 3 | 0.914 |
| Chain | Ch | 66 | 20.116 |
| Furlong | Fur | 660 | 201.16 |
| Mile | Mi | 5280 | 1609.34 |
| League | Lea | 15840 | 4828.03 |
Maritime units
| Name of unit | Symbol | Length in feet | Length in meter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fathom | Ftm | 6.076 | 1.852 |
| Cable | - | 607.6 | 185.2 |
| Nautical mile | Nmi | 6076.1 | 1852 |
Gunter’s survey units (17th century)
| Name of unit | Symbol | Length in feet | Length in meter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link | - | 66/100 | 0.201168 |
| Rod | - | 66/4 | 5.0292 |
Imperial units for area
The area is the term used to define the space taken by a 2D shape object. The area can be calculated by multiplying length into width. The imperial units of area are given below:
| Name of unit | Area in square feet | Area in square yards | Area in square meters | Area in acre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perch | 272 1⁄4 | 30 1⁄4 | 25.29285264 | 1/160 |
| Rood | 10890 | 1210 | 1011.7141056 | ¼ |
| Acre | 43560 | 4840 | 4046.8564224 | 1 |
| Square mile | 27878400 | 2097600 | 2589988.110336 | 640 |
Imperial units for volume
The amount of a liquid substance that is enclosed by a container is called the volume of that liquid substance.
| Name of unit | Symbol | Volume in imperial ounces | Volume in imperial pints | Volume in cubic inches | Volume in millimeters | Volume in US pints | Volume in US ounces |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fluid ounce | fl oz | 1 | 1/20 | 1.7339 | 28.4130625 | 0.060047 | 0.96076 |
| Gill | Gi | 5 | ¼ | 8.6694 | 142.0653125 | 0.30024 | 4.8038 |
| Pint | Pt | 20 | 1 | 34.677 | 568.26125 | 1.2009 | 19.215 |
| Quart | Qt | 40 | 2 | 69.355 | 1136.5225 | 2.4019 | 38.430 |
| Gallon | Gal | 160 | 8 | 277.42 | 2546.09 | 9.6076 | 153.72 |
Imperial units for mass and weight
Mass is the amount of matter in an object while weight is the force of gravity exerting on that object. Their distinction is not always clearly drawn. A pound is the unit of mass but is commonly referred to as weight. In the 19th and 20th centuries, three different systems of mass and weight are used by the UK.
Troy weight
Troy’s weight system is the measurement system of mass and weight. Grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and the troy pound (12 troy ounces) are the units of the troy weight system. It was originated in the 15th century in England. It was primarily used for precious metals. Many aspects of this system were derived from the Roman monetary system. The roman used bronze bars for weighing things like currency. The weight of a heavy bar of bronze was equal to one pound and it is known as “aes graves”. 1/12th of an aes graves was equal to “uncia”. The troy weights were first used in 1527 in England for gold and silver. British imperial system was established in 1824 and this system used the troy weights of England which were given the name of pre-imperial English units. The new British troy weights are based on pre-1824 British Imperial troy weight.
Avoirdupois weight
The avoirdupois weight system is the measurement system of mass and weight. It uses ounce and pound as units. It was established in the 13th century AD. It was originally used for weighing wool. This system was updated in 1959. The present version of the avoirdupois system has the following units:
A pound having 6992 grains
A stone having 14 pounds
A woolsack of 26 stones
An ounce of 1/16 pounds
Apothecaries’ weight system
Apothecaries’ weight system is the historical system of mass and volume units. All the units of this system were used by physicians and apothecaries for medical recipes and sometimes by scientists. The English version of this system is similar to the English troy weight system because the pound and weight are similar in both systems. According to this system, a pound is equal to 12 ounces, an ounce is equal to 8 drachms, a drachm is equal to 3 scruples, and a scruple is equal to 20 grains.
The table of the units of mass is given below:
| Name of unit | Symbol | Weight in pound | Weight in kilogram |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grain | Gr | 1/7000 | 6.4799 |
| Drachm | Dr | 1/256 | 0.001771845 |
| Ounce | Oz | 1/16 | 0.0283495 |
| Pound | Lb | 1 | 0.45359237 |
| Stone | St | 14 | 6.35029318 |
| Quarter | qr or qtr | 28 | 12.70058636 |
| Hundredweight | Cvt | 112 | 50.80234544 |
| Ton | T | 2240 | 1016.0469088 |
| Slug | Slug | 32.17404856 | 14.59390294 |
Summary:
How much is a stone? A stone is the imperial unit of mass that equals 14 pounds or 6.35 kg. Stone is also called the “stone weight”. The use of stone is ceased in 1987 after the adaptation of the metric system. The imperial system came into official use in 1826. It was evolved from units evolved from the thousand of Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and customary local units employed in the Middle Ages. There are many imperial units for length, volume, area, and weight. There are three systems for mass and weight. These three are the troy weight system, avoirdupois weight system, and apothecaries’ weight system. Grain, drachm, ounce, pound, stone, quarter, hundredweight, ton, and slug are the units for weight and mass.
Stone
Stone is the imperial unit of mass. It is equal to 14 pounds. Its symbol is “st”. The name “stone” is derived from the use of stone for weight in past. In the ancient Jewish world, there was no standardized stone but the stone weight was crafted to multiples of the Roman pound in Roman time. England and Germanic-speaking countries of northern Europe used many standardized “stones” for trade in the past. The values of these stones were ranging about 5 to 40 pounds (approximately 3 to 15 kg) depending on the objects weighed and location. In 1987, the use of stone was abolished in trade by the Weight and Measure Act of 1985. But the stone is still used in the United Kingdom and Ireland for body weight.
Significance of stones
Each stone has a specific purpose and history that stretches beyond the time limit. Some of the stones reside outside of the universe and some have been home for millions of years.
Every stone has inner energy. This is the reason many cultures use stone for pray or meditation. Also, people of cultures have faith that the stones contain some spiritual powers.
The significance of the symbol of stone revolves around the idea of tenacity, stability, permanence, and the like to define its meaning.
Many stones are having a powerful connection to the meaning of Earth.
Stone is the unit of weight which is equal to 6.35kg.
History of stone
The stone was used to measure the weight of things in the past. England and other Germanic-speaking countries used many standardized stones for trade, in past. But in the 19th century, after the arrival of the metric system, the stone was replaced by a kilogram.
In ancient times, a law of the Bible was against the carrying of “diverse weight” a large and small. The statement of law was “you shall not carry a stone and a stone (אבן ואבן), a large and a small”.
England
The English stone under law varied by commodity. In practice, it was also varied according to local standards. The Assize of Weight and Measures, a statute of uncertain date from c, 1300, describes stones of different pounds.
Stone of five pounds
According to the document of 1302, a stone of five pounds was used for “glass”. It is also mentioned in the Worlidge dictionary (1704) that the stone of 5 lb was used for glass.
Stone of eight pounds
In the 13th century, the stone of eight-pound was used for wax, sugar, pepper, cinnamon, nutmegs, and alum. In 1496, it was also known as the “stone of London”.
Stone of 16 pounds
In the 18th century, in Counties Armagh, Monaghan, Tyrone, and probably others, Ireland, a stone of 16 pounds was used for wool, features, and tallow. A stone of 16 pounds used for undressed and hackled flax was used in County Down. A stone of potatoes was 16 pounds in summer, but 18 pounds in winter, in County Clare.
Stone of 20 pounds
In the 16th century, in the town of Burport, England, the unit of mass used for ■■■■ is equal to 20 pounds.
Stone of 24 pounds
In the 18th century, in the county of Northumberland, England, the unit of mass for wool is equal to 24 pounds avoirdupois.
Live animals were weighed in stone of 14 pounds but once they are slaughtered, they were weighed in stone of 8 pounds. Smithfield market (a district located in central London) continued to use a stone of 8 pounds for meat until the Second World War.
Scotland
The Scottish stone was equal to 16 Scottish pounds. In 1661, the Royal Commission of Scotland finalized that the Troy stone is used as the standard rate of weight and be kept in the custody of the burgh of Lanark (town of the central belt of Scotland). But after the establishment of the uniform system of measure by the Act of 1824, the use of stone was ceased.
Ireland
The stone varied both with locality and with the commodity in England before the early 19th century. The usual value of stone was 14 pounds. According to County Clare, a stone of potatoes was 16 pounds in summer, but 18 pounds in winter.
Modern use of stone
In 1967, the federation of British industry gave the news to the British government that its members were in favor of adopting the metric system. On behalf of the government, agreed to support a 10-year metrication program. The agriculture product markets achieved a voluntary switchover in 1976 by following the guidelines of the Metrication Board. The permission was given that the stone was used as a “supplementary unit” but it was not included in Directive/80/181/EEC as a unit.
When the metric system was adopted, the use of stone was ceased. The Weight and Measure Act of 1985, passed compliance with EU directive 80/181/EEC, and according to this compliance, the stone was removed from the list of units permitted for trade in the United Kingdom. In response to the same directive, in 1983, similar compliance was passed in Ireland.
Stone is still used in UK and Ireland for the measurement of body weight. In these countries people may commonly be said to weigh, For example, “11 stone 4” (11 stones and 4 pounds), rather than “72 kilograms” as in most of the other countries or “158 pounds” as the simple method of expressing the weight in the US.
In Australia and New Zealand metric system has almost displaced the stones and pounds since the 1970s.
In Both Britain and Ireland, in many sports, such as professional boxing, horse racing, wrestling, the stone is used to express body weight.
Use of stone in other countries
Summary:
The name of the stone is derived from the past when the stone was used for weighing things. Stone of 5 pounds, 8 pounds, 14 pounds, 16 pounds, 20 pounds, and 24 pounds was used in England. The Scottish stone was equal to 16 Scottish pounds. In Ireland, the value of stone varied with location and type of things. Stone was also used in Germany, Poland, Poland Russia, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Lithuania, Austria, and many other countries.
Other units of mass and weight and their relation with a stone
Grain
A grain is the unit of measure and mass. Grain is equal to exactly 64.79891 milligrams in the troy weight, avoirdupois, and apothecaries’ weight system. Grain is the only unit that is equal in all the systems of mass. Grain is based upon the mass of a single ideal seed of a cereal. It was the legal foundation of traditional English weight systems. The grain is commonly used to measure the mass of bullets, propellants (a chemical substance used in the production of energy), and gold foil (used to restore teeth in dentistry).
How many stones are present in one grain?
One imperial grain contains a 1.02041×10^-5 stone.
Dram
The dram or drachm is the unit of mass in the avoirdupois system. It is a unit of mass and volume in the apothecaries’ weight system. As a unit of volume dram is also called fluid dram, fluid drachm, fluidram, or fluidrachm. A coin weighing one drachm is called stater, drachm, or drachma. In the avoirdupois system, drachm is equal to 1/256 pounds or 1/6 ounces. It is a legacy pharmaceutical unit of measurement. It is used to measure the powder charge in a shotgun cell.
How many stones are present in one drachm?
One imperial drachm contains 0.000,279,017,857,142,86 stone.
Ounce
The ounce is the unit of mass and weight. Ounce derived from a unit “uncia” which is equal to 1/12th of the Roman pound (libra). Besides the common ounce, many other ounces are in current use. For example,
The troy ounce is used to measure precious metals such as gold, platinum, silver, rhodium, etc.
The fluid ounce is used to measure volume.
The ounce is used to measure the copper thickness on a printed circuit board (PCB).
In North America, Asia, and the UK, an ounce is used to express the weight and areal density of a textile fabric.
In the United States, Ounce is used packaged foods and food portions, postal items, the areal density of paper, and boxing gloves.
How many stones are present in one ounce?
One imperial ounce contains 0.004,464,285,714,285,7 stone.
Pound
The pound is the unit of mass and is also known as pound mass. It is used in imperial, United States customary, and other systems of measurement. The unit of the pound is “lb” because the pound is derived from Roman libra. The word “pound” is cognate with German Pfund, Dutch pond, and Swedish pound.
How much is a stone in one pound?
One pound contains 0.0714286 stone.
Quarter
The Units of Measurement Regulation 1994 defines the quarter as a unit of mass and weight equal to 28 pounds. The quarter is also the unit of length and volume At the time of the Magna Carta, the quarter was equal to ¼ ton. The term quarter comes from the Latin word “Quartus” meaning one quarter.
How many stones are present in one quarter?
One imperial quarter is equal to 2 stones.
Hundredweight
The hundredweight is also called the centum weight or quintal. The hundredweight is used in the US for weighing cereal grains, oilseeds, paper, and concrete additives. It is the British imperial and US customary unit of mass and weight. Its values are different in the British imperial system and US customary system. The two values are differentiated in American English as the “short” and “long” hundredweight and in British English as the “cental” and “imperial” hundredweight.
The short or cental hundredweight is equal to 100 pounds or 45.46 kg.
The long or imperial hundredweight is equal to 112 pounds or 50.58 kg.
How many stones are present in one hundredweight?
Ton
Ton is also known as imperial ton, long ton, displacement ton, and long ton. it was standardized in the 13th century. It is used in the United Kingdom and many other British Commonwealth of Nations countries. It is also used in the United States for bulk Commodities. A long ton is defined as the unit of weight equal to 2240 pounds or 20 hundredweight. It is not confused by the short ton which is equal to 2000 pounds or 907.1847 kg.
How many stones are present in one ton?
Slug
The slug is the derived unit of mass in the weight-based system of measures. It is most notable within the British Imperial measurement system and the United States customary measures system. It is part of a subset of units known as the gravitational FPS system.
How many stones in a slug?
One slug is equal to 2.298,146,335 stones.
Summary:
Grain, dram (drachm), ounce, pound, quarter, hundredweight, ton, and slug are the other units of mass and weight. One grain is equal to contains a 1.02041×10^-5 stone. One drachm contains 0.000,279,017,857,142,86 stone. One ounce contains 0.004,464,285,714,285,7 stone. One pound has 0.0714286 stone. There are 2 stones in one imperial quarter. One imperial ton is equal to 160 stones and a cental ton is equal to 142.857,142,857,14 stones. One slug contains 2.298,146,335 stones.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
What is the meaning of three stones’ weight?
Stone is the imperial and English unit of mass and weight. The symbol of stone is “st”. One stone is equal to 14 pounds (6.35 kg). So if you want to know the meaning of three stone weight then you have to multiply 3 with 14. The answer is 42. It means that the 3 stones are equal to 42 pounds.
Why the imperial unit stone was given the name of “stone”?
It was given the name of stone because many people use stones for weighing things in the past. Even at present, we see many vegetables and fruits vendors who use stones as the mode of weighing vegetables and fruits. A stone is equal to 14 pounds or 6.35 kg. One long or imperial hundredweight contains 8 stones and 7.142,857,142 stones are present one short or cental hundredweight.
How many stones (of different sizes) are used in past?
A Stone of 5 pounds was used for glass.
A Stone of 8 pounds was used for wax, sugar, pepper, cinnamon, nutmegs, and alum.
A Stone of 14 pounds was used for weighing live animals.
A Stone of 16 pounds was used for wool, features, and tallow.
A Stone of 20 pounds was used for mass used for ■■■■ is equal to 20 pounds.
Who invented the Imperial system of Units?
The Weight and Measure Act of 1824 and the Weight and Measure Act of 1878 established the British Imperial System of units. It was based on the precise definitions of selected existing units. It was given the name of the British imperial system because it originated from the British Empire that ruled over the many parts of the world from the 16th to 19th century.
What is the metric system?
The metric system is the system of measurement. It uses the meter, liter, and gram as base units of length, volume, and weight or mass respectively. Besides base units, there are also many other units are present in the metric system for length (distance), volume (capacity), and weight (mass). These units are given below:
Length:
Millimeter (mm), centimeter (cm), decimeter (dm), meter (m), decameter (dam), hectometer (hm), and kilometer (km) are the units for length.
Volume:
Milliliter (ml), Centiliter (cl), Deciliter (dl), Liter (l), Decaliter (dal), Hectoliter (hl), Kiloliter (kl), are the units for volume.
Weight:
Milligram (mg), Centigram (cg), Decigram (dg), Gram (g), Decagram (dag), Hectogram (hg), Kilogram (kg) are the unit for weight.
Why does America still use the imperial system?
America still uses the imperial system because of time and money. When the Industrial Revolution started in the country, expensive manufacturing plants became the main and major source of American jobs and consumer products. At that time, the machinery used in factories was developed according to units of the imperial system and all the workers are trained to deal with units of the imperial system, and many products were made to feature these units. This is the reason that why does America uses the imperial system and this is also the biggest reason America has not adopted the metric system.
Is the metric system superior to the imperial system?
No, the metric system is not superior to the imperial system. Although, the metric system is less confusing than the imperial system. The metric system uses units such as meters (for length) or grams (for weight) and adds prefixes such as kilo, centi, or milli to count orders of magnitude using a “base 10” system. On the other hand, in the imperial system, Things are measured in feet, inches, miles, yards (for distance), and pounds or ounces (for weight).
When it comes to feet and inches, the imperial system uses a base 12 system instead of counting by 10 (as in the metric system). Some people think that it is difficult to count by 12’s instead of 10’s but the 12 has divisibility advantages over 10. 12 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, and 6 but 10 can be divided by only 2 and 5. And in this way, a foot (imperial unit) can be cleanly divided as compared to a meter (metric system unit).
Why does Britain measure weight in stone?
Brits tend to measure their weight in stone because it gives a small number that is easy to remember. For example, 10 stones instead of 140 pounds. If they want to become more precise they can also use pounds. For example, 160 pounds is equal to “11 stone 6 (pounds)”.
Does the UK use both metric and imperial systems?
Yes, the UK uses both metric and imperial systems. The imperial system is customary in the UK. The people of the UK have much knowledge about this system because it is what their parents use and what their parents’ parents use. They consider the imperial system convenient for them. Most people know their height and weight in imperial units. But they are taught metric system in school and colleges and the metric system is the most practical
How many countries still used the imperial system?
Only three countries still used the imperial system of units. These three countries are The U.S., Liberia, and Myanmar. These three countries officially adopted the imperial system of units for measurement. There are many other countries, which are not adopted the imperial system officially but they use the imperial system as a customary system.
Conclusion
How much is a stone? A stone is equal to 14 pounds or 6.35 kg. The stone is the unit of the imperial system. After the adaptation of the metric system in 1987, the use of stone was stopped for trade. The imperial system was evolved from the Weight and Measures Act of 1824 and 1878. There are different imperial units for length, volume, area, and weight. The troy weight system, avoirdupois weight system, and apothecaries’ weight system are the three systems for mass and weight. . Grain, drachm, ounce, pound, stone, quarter, hundredweight, ton, and slug are the units for weight and mass. The stone was used in past for weighing things. Stones of different pounds were used in England in past including stones of 5 pounds, 8 pounds, 14 pounds, 16 pounds, 20 pounds, and 24 pounds. The Scottish stone was equal to 16 Scottish pounds. The value of stone varied with location and type of things, in Ireland. Stone was also used in Germany, Poland, Poland Russia, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Lithuania, Austria, and many other countries.
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