Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead? Everyone thinks they know the answer is that they weigh the same, and they think that the riddle is only meant for children. However, I wonder if that doesn’t just “seem” right, and the original riddle was meant to be trickier than that. Lead would be measured in troy pounds (373 grams)* and feathers in avoirdupois pounds (454 grams), so the pound of feathers would actually weigh more. On the other hand a troy ounce (31.1 grams) weighs more than an avoirdupois ounce (28.4 grams). What’s the real answer to this riddle?
Strictly speaking, I’m not sure how base metals are measured. If necessary, change the riddle to a pound of gold and a pound of feathers.
Assuming you’re not being facetious. I don’t know of any rule that states feathers have to be wieghed on one scale while the other has to be weighed on the other scale.
Bottom line is they BOTH have the same amount of gravity being exerted on them.
I think your trying to compare apples to oranges my friend.
I don’t know but speaking of riddles deeper than they seem, it took me a while (30 years) to get “why did the chicken cross the road?” (I don’t know how to black it out, so the answer follows a bit of SPOILER SPACE)
To get to the other side (i.e., “the hereafter”, “the great beyond”, “the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns”).
Because, realistically, what better way for a chicken to get there?
Nevermind, if they’re both measured in “avoirdupois (28.5 grams per ounce)” (just like weed!!), then I was right when my great uncle tried to fool me with the question.
/aside he got it from a Cracker Jack box, I shit you not.
I think that this is a standard riddle, which tries to get the audience to make a false assumption.
Because lead is very dense and feathers aren’t, many people assume the lead will be heavier.
No need for weights + measures complications.
Somehow, in some small way, I feel odd answering this. But, alas, I shall expand on the fore-posters and comment that a pound of anything is equivalent to a pound of anything else because a pound is a system of weight measure. Assuming both quantities can be placed in two equivalent spherical ball with their masses spread throughout, air resistance will not affect the balls. This is actually a meaningless complication but I felt it needed pointed out. Anyways, the quanity of feathers needed to make a pound and the quanity of lead to make a pound will be different, yes, but their weights will be the same.
A troy ounce = 31.1 gm (approximately), and there are 12 ounces in a troy pound.
An avoirdupous ounce = 28.3 gm (approximately), and there are 16 ounces in an avoirdupois pound.
Therefore an avoirdupois ounce equals about 0.9 troy ounces, but an avoirdupois pound equals about 1.2 troy pounds.
So an ounce (troy) of gold weighs more than an ounce (avoirdupois) of feathers, but a pound (troy) of gold weighs less than a pound (avoirdupois) of feathers.
Lead, being measured in avoirdupois, weighs the same as feathers.
My take on the original riddle is that it is simply meant to be a “Gotcha!”, since the simple minded response will be to answer “lead” without paying attention to the fact that a pound of both substances weighs the same. However, it can be made into a higher-level trick question by substituting gold for lead.
That only applies if you are dropping them through a resistant medium such as air. They weigh the same, but air resistance will oppose gravity and cause the feathers to fall more slowly. In a vacuum, a feather will fall at exactly the same rate as an equivalent weight of lead.
Weight would already account for buoyancy differences, as it is a measure of force, not mass. In this riddle, you would have a greater total mass of feathers to generate the same 1lb downard force of gravity.
Let’s look at a similar riddle using mass rather than weight. One kg of feathers will weigh less than 1kg of lead because of buoyancy, just as 1kg of filled helium balloons weigh less than 1kg of lead or feathers, when measured in atmosphere.
I’m not a physicist but I think that this gets to the difference between weight and mass. If you’re in a balloon you get different result if you remove a kilogram of helium vs. a kilogram of lead from the craft.
A pound weighs a pound by definition. But: which weighs more, a kiliogram of feathers or a kilogram of lead? I feel like I’m being needlessly pedantic even if I’m right… but I think that a kilogram of lead would weigh more than a kilogram of feathers. I hope some pro physicist will check in on this…
This all leads (pun intended) nicely to the riddle
Which weighs more a pound of Gold or a pound of Feathers?
In which case Pound of Gold weighs more, since as mentioned above Gold is measured in Trojan pounds, whilst Feathers are measured in avoirdupois pounds. Needless to say getting hit 'round the head for being so nerdy after asking such a riddle is a likely result
