2006-09-18 09:54:08 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Because a pint of water weighs a pound.
"The world around, a pint's a pound."
In the old days this made it easy to weigh a pound on a balance scale.
Pints and pounds are both divided into 16 ounces.
2006-09-18 10:21:52 · answer #1 · answered by Jay 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An ounce and a fluid ounce are related in the same way a kilogram is related to a liter. A fluid ounce is the volume of one ounce of water at standard conditions.
I suppose the liter could have been called a fluid kilogram.
2006-09-18 16:59:17 · answer #2 · answered by Deep Thought 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In 1266, King Henry III of England created an act to establish that a penny (money) should weigh the same as 32 grains of wheat, twenty pennies to make one ounce, and twelve ounces to the pound.
A fluid ounce is the amount of water needed to weigh one ounce.
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By the way, the ounce is the name for a number of different units of mass (oz), and also of two units of fluid volume (fl oz) and of one unit of force, the ounce-force (ozf).
2006-09-18 17:08:37 · answer #3 · answered by Zim 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep, it's the silly English systems of weights and measurement.
The fluid ounce is 29.57 milliliters.
The avoirdupois ounce is 28.35 grams
The troy (or apothecary) ounce is 31.10 grams
I guess the English just weren't very creative with the names of their units . . . 8^)
2006-09-18 17:02:17 · answer #4 · answered by Dave_Stark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The etymology of ounce can be traced right back through Indo-European languages, and basically means one or unit.
2006-09-18 17:12:03 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a difference between a fluid oz. (Volume) and an oz. (Mass)
Its the silly English unit system messing things up...
2006-09-18 16:58:07 · answer #6 · answered by AresIV 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋