Difference Between Ounces and Pounds

盎司vs Pounds

Ounces and pounds are units of mass used in the imperial system of measurement, but whereas the world has moved over to kilograms after the adoption of the metric system, some countries still stick to this system of measurement which is what confuses many people. Out of the two units, ounce is smaller than pound and both have traditionally been used for different purposes. Whereas ounces are used to measure precious metals and spices as they are required in smaller quantities, pounds are used to measure fruits and vegetables, and interestingly, mass of people also.

Ounce is abbreviated as oz from an Italian word onza and should not be confused with Oz which is a term used to refer to Australians. It is roughly equal to 28 grams in the metric system. However, there are two different ounces that make the situation confusing for people. One is international avoirdupois ounce and the other being international troy ounce (used in the measurement of precious metals sometimes) which is larger than avoirdupois ounce and equals 31.1034768g. In imperial system of measurement, an ounce is one sixteenth of a pound which in turn is one fourteenth of a stone.

Hence, one pound = 16 ounces

Pound is considerably larger measurement of mass, and mostly used for measurement of fruits, vegetables and funnily, even the mass of people. You would be surprised to know that Americans use pounds to describe the mass of a person whereas British use only stone to do the same.