Stone (unit)

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The Stone ( English stone ) is a British non- SI-compliant unit of mass and gravitational force . It is divided into avoirdupois (pounds), ounces, and dram . In traditional English units, a distinction was made between weight and mass only in scientific use. Example: lb f as pound-force .

  • Unit symbol: st
  • 1 st = 14 lb = 224 oz = 3584 dr = 6.35029318 kg ≈ 70/11 kg
  • 1 tn.l. = 160 st = 2240 lb

Until 1985 the Stone was an official unit in Great Britain. Since then, its use for business purposes (e.g. labeling of goods, technical data) has been expressly prohibited by the Weights and Measures Act . The same applies to the units of dram and (long) tone used for explanation above. In some Commonwealth countries it is still customary to state the human body weight in stones ("I have lost two stone five"). "I have lost two stones and five pounds (15 kg)". Stone, as an unofficial unit for human body weight, has a similar meaning to the outdated and abolished kilocalorie in German as a unit for the energy content of (human) food or horsepower for the power especially of internal combustion engines , which despite being abolished are not really disappearing from everyday use.

Sometimes the weight of wrestlers , boxers and jockeys is still given in stones and pounds, but this is increasingly being replaced by a figure in pounds.

When stone is used as a unit with a preceding number, native British speakers do not use the plural -S, but without a number they do (“What is your weight in stones and pounds?” - “What is your weight in stones and pounds?”).

Historical measure

Roman "stone" (13 kg), Eschborn Museum, Germany.
  • Fish and meat 1 stone = 8 Imperial Standard Avoir du pois pounds ≈ 3629 grams
  • Glass 1 stone = 5 Imperial Standard Avoir du pois pounds ≈ 2268 grams
    • Glass 25 stone = 1 seam
  • Wool 1 stone = 2 cloves / nails = 14 pounds ≈ 6326 grams
    • 2 stones = 1 death
    • 13 Stone = 1 Wey
    • 26 stones = 1 sack
    • 312 stones = 12 sacks = 1 load / load

See also

References

  1. ↑ Weights and Measures Act 1985: Page 77, Part VI (PDF; 2.9 MB).
  2. ^ Johann Friedrich Krüger : Complete manual of the coins, measures and weights of all countries in the world. Verlag Gottfried Basse, Quedlinburg / Leipzig 1830, p. 323.