# How much does a "stone" weigh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647 "2007-01-04T04:32:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/61 "2007-01-05T22:09:59Z")
So is a stone a unit of mass or weight? I wonder what the acceleration of gravity is in stone-furlongs per fortnight squared? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/62 "2007-01-05T22:36:28Z")
[QUOTE=Tierce] So is a stone a unit of mass or weight? I wonder what the acceleration of gravity is in stone-furlongs per fortnight squared? [/QUOTE] I don’t know where stone-furlongs would fit in, but according to my calculations acceleration due to gravity is 71,325,583,606 furlongs per fortnight per fortnight. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/63 "2007-01-05T23:03:53Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] I don’t know where stone-furlongs would fit in, but according to my calculations acceleration due to gravity is 71,325,583,606 furlongs per fortnight per fortnight. [/QUOTE] Geek. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/64 "2007-01-05T23:52:05Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Yes, but an imperial pound is the same as an “English” pound. [/QUOTE] One is weight and one is money. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/65 "2007-01-06T00:52:51Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] One is weight and one is money. 😉 [/QUOTE] In seriousness, one is weight, and one is an archaic measure of weight. 😛 **Chez** , I’m surprised to see that Tesco has milk in those quantities. Just checked my fridge and I see you’re completely correct. I had assumed they were in 250 ml, 500 ml, and 1 l measures. Probably because I lived in Ireland, where they’re a bit more metric-progressive. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/66 "2007-01-06T01:47:11Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Tesco sizes at my nearest store are labelled on one side of the container like so: 1.136 litres/2 pints 2.272 litres/4 pints 3.408 litres/6 pints [/QUOTE] Just checked the fridge, we get a plastic pint carton, plastic litre and Tesco also have 2 litre and 3 litre cartons. I haven’t seen milk sold in the old cardboard pint cartons for a while, but orange juice and soup seem to be sold in them. The old skinny milk bottle has disappeared from the garage, it may be a victim of recycling… ---
**Author:** ![octothorpe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b77776/32.png) [@octothorpe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octothorpe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/67 "2007-01-06T03:30:52Z")
**duffer** To answer your second question in the same vein as your first, “_Standing at 6’ 4" what measurement can I use?_” The correct answer would be **19 hands**. So, **duffer** stands 19 hands at 17 stone. Hmm… makes him sound like a pugilist (or a very thin horse)… # ---
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/68 "2007-01-06T03:32:18Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] I don’t know where stone-furlongs would fit in, but according to my calculations acceleration due to gravity is 71,325,583,606 furlongs per fortnight per fortnight. [/QUOTE] Of course, stone-furlongs per fortnight squared would be force, not acceleration. My bad. If a stone is already a unit of weight, not mass, we could always use slugs instead. 1 slug = 14.59 kg. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/69 "2007-01-06T07:43:52Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Forgive me for harping on about my favourite sport but is a furlong used in any sphere other than horse racing? [/QUOTE] Reminds me of one of those aphorisms that one often sees in engineering circles: “All measurements shall be given in the least usable units. Speed, for instance, shall be expressed as furlongs per fortnight” ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/70 "2007-01-06T10:44:04Z")
One furlong per fortnight would be pretty good going for some of the horses I’ve backed. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/71 "2007-01-06T17:16:27Z")
[QUOTE=Tierce] So is a stone a unit of mass or weight? I wonder what the acceleration of gravity is in stone-furlongs per fortnight squared? [/QUOTE] Gasp! I scrolled to the end just to post the phrase “furlongs per fortnight”. It’s been rattling around in my skull forever, since I first read it in…either Mad or National Lampoon. Probably Mad. Sometime in the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/72 "2007-01-10T22:04:12Z")
My first-year physics prof used furlongs per fortnight extensively in class. Whodathunk a thread with a simple, factual, one-sentence answer would to to 72 posts? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/73 "2007-01-10T22:08:43Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] The old skinny milk bottle has disappeared from the garage, it may be a victim of recycling… [/QUOTE] More likely to be a victim of centralised supply. The glass bottles were (and are) true examples of ‘fully-recyleable’, i.e. returnable. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/74 "2007-01-10T22:21:38Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] My first-year physics prof used furlongs per fortnight extensively in class. [/QUOTE] I think the source of fu/fn calls for its own thread, which I will launch forthwith. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/75 "2007-01-10T22:31:03Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] 6.43912129 × 10[sup]-9[/sup] light-seconds [/QUOTE] Ummm, yeah. Hehe. Now go find a tape measure that makes those numbers useful. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/76 "2007-01-10T22:34:59Z")
I bought a bag of potatos and saw that it was marked 3.6ish kilos, or 7 pounds. I would have assumed that that was the weight of some odd Imperial (or, more likely these days, US Customary) volume measurement, but now I know! That’s half a stone! ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/77 "2007-01-10T22:39:14Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] **2.04047799 × 10[sup]-16[/sup] light-years** is better. After all, the light-year is actually used by astronomers. No-one uses light-seconds in any context that I know of. [/QUOTE] Well, we don’t at the moment really need to, but consider: Suppose we have colonies on Mars, mining outposts in the Asteroids, and scientific outposts in Jupiter orbit. There is lots of interplanetary traffic going back and forth amongst all of those places. Obtaining a distance measurement based on light seconds provides info that can be used quickly, without resorting to mental acrobatics. Light seconds tells you how long a radio message from you to the destination will take to get there. If your using regular old radar for range measurements, you “know” how old that info is for navigational use. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/78 "2007-01-11T00:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=duffer] Standing at 6’ 4" what measurement can I use? [/QUOTE] 1.134 Smoots No thread about obscure units of measurement is complete without the [Smoot](http://web.archive.org/web/19970806205154/%68ttp://web.mit.edu/museum/fun/smoots.html). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/79 "2007-01-11T00:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] 1.134 Smoots No thread about obscure units of measurement is complete without the [Smoot](http://web.archive.org/web/19970806205154/%68ttp://web.mit.edu/museum/fun/smoots.html). [/QUOTE] And the nad (18.4cm), defined (or recorded) by Douglas Adams: “the distance between a driver’s oustretched fingertips and the ticket machine in an automatic car park.” ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647/80 "2007-01-11T01:22:34Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] 1.134 Smoots No thread about obscure units of measurement is complete without the [Smoot](http://web.archive.org/web/19970806205154/%68ttp://web.mit.edu/museum/fun/smoots.html). [/QUOTE] Luckily there was a link. I swear to Og I was gonna accuse you of just making up shit. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-a-stone-weigh/386647.md?page=5)