# which is heavier? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831 "2001-07-26T07:09:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![isam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3d9bf3/32.png) [@isam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isam)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/1 "2001-07-26T07:09:12Z")
a pound of feathers or a pound of gold? before you answer with neither, a pound is a pound, consider the following: since a pound of feathers consist of 16 oz to a pound, arent they in fact heavier than a pound of gold which consists of only 12 oz (troy)? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/2 "2001-07-26T07:25:57Z")
(sigh)yes ---
**Author:** ![isam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3d9bf3/32.png) [@isam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isam)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/3 "2001-07-26T07:32:34Z")
therefore the trick question isnt really a trick question afterall yay! ---
**Author:** ![Keko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@Keko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keko)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/4 "2001-07-26T07:54:50Z")
Sounds like some kinda joke my Dad would tell me. And that’s not saying much :P~ ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/5 "2001-07-26T07:59:24Z")
From: [http://members.theglobe.com/wronghero/lemonbasket43.htm](http://members.theglobe.com/wronghero/lemonbasket43.htm) > [@](#): > > From Stimpson, George, A Book About a Thousand Things (New York: Harper & Bros., 1946, pp. 356-7): > > “Technically speaking, a pound of feathers is heavier than a pound of gold. Feathers are weighed by avoirdupois weight in which there are 7,000 grains in a pound, while gold and other precious metals are weighed in Troy weight in which there ase 5,760 grains in a pound. Of course, by the same system of weights a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of gold…” > > But wait! There’s more! > > “In a vacuum a pound of feathers weighs exactly the same as a pound of [gold]. But because of the bouyancy of air there is an apparent difference. If a pound of feathers and a pound of [gold] are weighed in a vacuum and then weighed in air, the feathers appear lighter because they are less dense than the metal and weight for weight [displace] more air. But if a pound of [gold] and a pound of feathers are first weighed in air and then weighed in a vacuum the feathers appear to be heavier. Often bodies that appear to have the same masses in air are found to have different masses in a vacuum.” ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/6 "2001-07-26T11:34:11Z")
It’s an old puzzle by Sam Loyd, I believe. He did several things concerning differnent measure systems; he asks, e.g., about the difference between a dozen dozen pounds of feathers and half a dozen dozen pounds of gold. It is added in the original text that the first appearance of that puzzle had been in 1914. ---
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/7 "2001-07-26T14:34:10Z")
Anything heavier than a duck must be a witch! (I did the nose) ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/8 "2001-07-26T15:16:25Z")
The logical progression: IF witches Burn AND wood also burns THEN witches are made of wood IF wood floats in water AND ducks also float in water AND witches are made of wood THEN a witch weighs the same as a duck IF weight(woman) = weight(duck) THEN woman = witch IF weight(woman) \> weight(duck) THEN she will not float in water and therefore is NOT a witch. (It’s a fair cop.) ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/9 "2001-07-27T08:45:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by curwin \* > “In a vacuum a pound of feathers weighs exactly the same as a pound of [gold]. But because of the bouyancy of air there is an apparent difference. If a pound of feathers and a pound of [gold] are weighed in a vacuum and then weighed in air, the feathers appear lighter because they are less dense than the metal and weight for weight [displace] more air. But if a pound of [gold] and a pound of feathers are first weighed in air and then weighed in a vacuum the feathers appear to be heavier. Often bodies that appear to have the same masses in air are found to have different masses in a vacuum.” Another thought about it (nitpicking, of course): This might be the case if you just consider the gravitational force that pulls your samples downwards; but if we consider the pound (or, for Europeans, the kilogram) a unit of mass, not force, the buoyancy stuff doesn’t work because mass is fixed. A kilogram on the moon has only 1/6 of the force it would have on Earth, but the mass is still one kilogram. While kilogram is without any doubt a mass, not force, unit, the thing is more complicated for the pound; I think many technicians use it for expression of engine thrust in aircraft, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/10 "2001-07-28T00:12:13Z")
In my experience, a large majority of the time, “pound” refers to a unit of weight or force, and usually when it’s meant as a unit of mass, it will be called “pound-mass” or something like that. One thing I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned: In their respective standard systems, a pound of feathers is indeed heavier than a pound of gold, but an ounce of feathers is _lighter_ than an ounce of gold. ---
**Author:** ![MrDeath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@MrDeath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDeath)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/11 "2001-07-28T00:51:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*One thing I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned: In their respective standard systems, a pound of feathers is indeed heavier than a pound of gold, but an ounce of feathers is _lighter_ than an ounce of gold. \*\* Not to mention, worth a lot less. (Yes, even eiderdown :)) ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/12 "2001-07-28T05:37:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > **In my experience, a large majority of the time, “pound” refers to a unit of weight or force, and usually when it’s meant as a unit of mass, it will be called “pound-mass” or something like that.** The unit of mass in the “English” system is called a “slug”. A pound (which is a unit of force) is 1 slug\*ft/s[sup]2[/sup]. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-heavier/73831/13 "2001-07-28T13:07:02Z")
I don’t disagree with you, **Darwin’s Finch**. But, from [Pound-Mass](http://www.treasure-troves.com/physics/Pound-Mass.html): “In industrial and commercial usage, the unqualified term ‘pound’ may be used to mean pound-mass (instead of pound-force), but this usage is to be discouraged.”