It’s an old riddle that only works with imperial units. In traditional British fashion, the imperial weights and measures had two pounds in it, and you had to choose the right pound for the right thing you were weighing. The troy pound was used to measure metals and only has 12 ounces, whereas the pound used to measure feathers had 16, so a pound of feathers was 4 ounces heavier than a pound of lead or gold or whatever.
A pound is the same for both. The oz measure is what was different. Thus an oz of metal is heavier than an oz of feathres. However a pound of both weights the same.
CombatWombatEsq@lemmy.world 6 days ago
It’s an old riddle that only works with imperial units. In traditional British fashion, the imperial weights and measures had two pounds in it, and you had to choose the right pound for the right thing you were weighing. The troy pound was used to measure metals and only has 12 ounces, whereas the pound used to measure feathers had 16, so a pound of feathers was 4 ounces heavier than a pound of lead or gold or whatever.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
Wow. You really dont get it.
bluGill@fedia.io 6 days ago
A pound is the same for both. The oz measure is what was different. Thus an oz of metal is heavier than an oz of feathres. However a pound of both weights the same.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
No. Steel is heavier than feathers.
pitaya@lemmy.zip 6 days ago
Not by weight