Stone (weight)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The stone is a unit of weight and mass. It is part of the Imperial system of weights and measures used in the United Kingdom, and formerly used in Ireland and most Commonwealth countries. It is equal to 14 pounds avoirdupois, or 6.35029318 kilograms. Eight stone make a hundredweight in the Imperial system. The plural form of stone is usually also stone, though stones is sometimes used. The abbreviation is st.
Though no longer an official unit of measure—kilograms are used in medical and other technical contexts—the stone remains almost universal as a means of expressing human body weight in the UK and Ireland. People in these countries normally describe themselves as weighing, for example, "11 stone 4" (11 stone and 4 pounds), rather than "158 pounds" (the conventional way of expressing the same weight in the United States and Canada). Stones may also be used to express body weight in casual contexts in other Commonwealth countries.
The stone was also frequently used in the past for weighing agricultural commodities. Potatoes, for example, were traditionally sold in stones and half-stones (14-pound and 7-pound quantities).
[edit] Equivalents
- 1 stone = 14 pounds = 6.350 kilograms
- 2 stone = 28 pounds = 12.700 kilograms
- 3 stone = 42 pounds = 19.051 kilograms
- 4 stone = 56 pounds = 25.401 kilograms
- 5 stone = 70 pounds = 31.751 kilograms
- 6 stone = 84 pounds = 38.102 kilograms
- 7 stone = 98 pounds = 44.452 kilograms
- 8 stone = 112 pounds = 50.802 kilograms
- 9 stone = 126 pounds = 57.152 kilograms
- 10 stone = 140 pounds = 63.503 kilograms
- 11 stone = 154 pounds = 69.853 kilograms
- 12 stone = 168 pounds = 76.204 kilograms
[edit] See also
- Human weight
- Body weight
- Conversion of units
- English unit
- History of measurement
- Units of measurement
