Talk:Gram

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[edit] It is approximately equal to one smartie, or It is almost exactly equal to one smartie.

Who can visualize 1×10−3 kg? Is it a molecule, a pin tip, a pepple, a rock? It's a great one sentence visualization. I think this is "encyclopedic material" gone too far. This is a useful tidbit and it costs one sentence. What do other people think? Nastajus 07:54, 7 January 2006 (UTC)


In the Gram (unit) page, Wikipedia says:

  A cubic centimetre (10-6 m3) of water has a mass of approximately one gram. 
  It is approximately equal to the mass of a paper clip.

The mass of a regular paper clip is approximately 0.5 gram. The mass of a jumbo paper clip is approximately 1.5 gram.

Bob Albrecht MathBackpacks@aol.com

Since we seem to be on the topic of office supplies, I might note that the mass of a single A4 sheet of paper at its most common thickness of 80 g/m² is 5 gram.
—Herbee 12:53, 2004 Feb 24 (UTC)

I agree with Bob. In my science classes, my students have measured paper clips, only to find they weigh from .5 to 1.5 grams. A plastic pen cap ( think Bic ) weighs exactly 1.0 grams. Should we not tell the world? Please see my web site for proof: http://pittsford.monroe.edu/PittsfordMiddle/rountree/images02/pencap.jpg

[edit] It's a Pen Cap

It is equal to the mass of a plastic pen cap (Bic). A paper clip is often referred to as the weight of a gram, but paper clips weigh from 0.5 gram to 1.5 grams. (unsigned anon contribution)

To what precision? Given that there are different kinds of pen caps (even Bic ones) what is the accuracy? It's reasonable to mention something that weighs about a gram, to give an idea of scale, but pen caps are not even made to the standard of accuracy that we are talking about.

You should also be aware that we have something called the "three revert rule". This means that if you add something to Wikipedia and it gets changed back three times, you have to wait a day before making more changes to the article. If you don't do this you can be blocked from editing Wikipedia. You are already over this limit, but on the assumption that you didn't know about it I'm going to let you off. However if you repeat the change you will be blocked. DJ Clayworth 15:53, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC) DJ Clayworth 15:49, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Amen. Gene Nygaard 16:06, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Not a derived unit

Would it be better to reword the second paragraph, since technically the gram is a submultiple of a base unit, and not a derived unit (see the SI brochure or NIST SP 330, e.g.).

Also, FWIW, a US nickel is exactly 5 g (see US Mint coin specifications). Gary Brown 01:07, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Indeed & it's even a base unit in the original French Metric system & the later Centimetre gram second system of units. This needs a mention. Jimp 3Oct05

[edit] Why kilogram as a SI-base unit?

Why is kilogram the base unit and not gram? A kg is easier to visualize, so I can understand why that amount of mass is the base, but why not define a "kilogram" as "gram", "gram" as "milligram" etc.? There has to be a historical reason why there is a "kilo" there? I find it unnatural to put a kilo = 10^3 in there. josteinaj, 23:13 UTC

(I see there's a discussion at en.wikipedia.org/kg about this) -josteinaj, 16:24 UTC, 8.feb.06

[edit] Weight/Gram Difference

How many grams are there in 50 pounds? Like if Amy Rose is 50 pounds, how many grams/decagrams/hectograms/kilograms is she? --PJ Pete

per information on this article, you can find:

grams = pounds * \frac{ 1 }{ .0022046 }

kilograms = pounds * \frac{ 1 }{ 2.2046 }

--Splarka (rant) 07:33, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cooking and nutritional application

Dammit, my Japanese wife just asked me as she's cooking my dinner, since I'm so Wikipedia smart, "How many grams are there in a quarter teaspoon of salt?" (I have a heart problem.) And I couldn't find the answer anywhere. Since on the one hand modern cookbooks have no problem with the "1 tsp" without making it easy for the consumer to convert it to the nutrition label which is in grams, why, it shows up Wikipedia's Achilles heel! The answer is so imprecise, amateurish even, that it is not dealt with, it is not encyclopedic!

Well, I just did. Thank the lord for Google. I hung on an external link which deals with it. Sorry, you purists out there. JohnClarknew 02:39, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

No offense but the weight of a tsp (or any other size) of salt has too much variation to be listed as a fact. Salt is crystalline, and depending on how course it is the weight will vary widely. Course ground sea salt will be much lower than finely ground table salt, but even fine ground table salt will vary. Some cooking purist (Alton Brown being the most famous I know of) specifically prefer to do many things by weight for that reason. DocGratis 14:06, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] British Spelling

Can anyone tell me the British spelling of gram? Is it gram or gramme?62.25.106.209 11:00, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

It is most commonly gram; however, gramme is sometimes seen, especially in old texts. E.g., in Huxley's Brave New World (published in 1932), one character exclaims, "A gramme is better than a damn". --Ferox117 (talk) 11:09, 30 November 2007 (UTC)
Yep, I've always used gram, and hardly ever seen gramme (not sure anyone in the UK uses it now, it was used a bit in the 90s). In the lead section it states that "gram" is the US spelling and "gramme" the rest of the world. I don't think that's correct, but I'm not sure if anyone can verify it? --J. Atkins (talk - contribs) 08:36, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/gram?view=uk. "Brit. also gramme". That seems to mean that gram is more prevalent in the UK. I'm gonna change the lead section. --J. Atkins (talk - contribs) 08:38, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Plural of Gram

Can anyone clarify the way the word gram is pluralised. I have encountered both "grams" and "grammes" in general usage - is the latter a British/Commonwealth English thing (related to "gramme" quoted above)? 82.10.108.49 (talk) 20:16, 15 April 2008 (UTC)