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Weight is measured in ounces and pounds (avoirdupois) as in the U.S. Volume is measured in imperial gallons , quarts , pints , fluid ounces , fluid drachms , and minims . The imperial gallon was originally defined as 10 pounds (4.5359 kg) of water in 1824, and refined as exactly 4.54609 litres in 1985.
Volume may be measured either in terms of units of cubic length or with specific volume units. The units of cubic length (the cubic inch, cubic foot, cubic mile, etc.) are the same in the imperial and US customary systems, but they differ in their specific units of volume (the bushel, gallon, fluid ounce, etc.).
An imperial fluid ounce is 1 ⁄ 20 of an imperial pint, 1 ⁄ 160 of an imperial gallon, or exactly 28.4130625 mL. A US customary fluid ounce is 1 ⁄ 16 of a US liquid pint, 1 ⁄ 128 of a US gallon, or exactly 29.5735295625 mL, making it about 4.084% larger than the imperial fluid ounce. A US food labeling fluid ounce is exactly 30 mL.
In the U.S., only the ounce, pound and short ton – known in the country simply as the ton – are commonly used, though the hundredweight is still used in agriculture and shipping. The grain is used to describe the mass of propellant and projectiles in small arms ammunition. It was also used to measure medicine and other very small masses.
The weights are in denominations of 7 pounds (corresponding to a unit known as the clip or wool-clip), 14 pounds (stone), 56 pounds (4 stone) and 91 pounds (1 ⁄ 4 sack or woolsack). [ 18 ] [ 19 ] The 91-pound weight is thought to have been commissioned by Edward III in conjunction with the statute of 1350, while the other weights are thought ...
English-speaking countries also used a system of units of fluid measure, or in modern terminology volume units, based on the apothecaries' system. Originally, the terms and symbols used to describe the volume measurements of liquids were the same as or similar to those used to describe weight measurements of solids [33] (for example, the pound by weight and the fluid pint were both referred to ...
Ounces are also used to express the "weight", or more accurately the areal density, of a textile fabric in North America, Asia, or the UK, as in "16 oz denim". The number refers to the weight in ounces of a given amount of fabric, either a yard of a given width, or a square yard, where the depth of the fabric is a fabric-specific constant. [18]
The units of measurement of German-speaking countries consist of a variety of units, with varying local standard definitions. While many were made redundant with the introduction of the metric system, some of these units are still used in everyday speech and even in stores and on street markets as shorthand for similar amounts in the metric system.