Why does 16 ounces equal one pint while 16 ounces also equal a pound (lb)?

Question

Im confused

because also on a water bottle it says that 16 ounces equals one pound...it is clearly not one gallon(its those water bottles out of the vending machine that costs like $1.25)...so I am somehow reading it wrong??

EDIT: The water reads that 16 ounces equals one pint.

Answer 1

An ounce is always one sixteenth of a pound, but as far as the volume equivalent you are missing one detail. 16 ounces OF WATER equals one pint.

An ounce is a measurement of weight and a pint is a measuerment of volume, but the two systems were designed to have this equivalency for water. Specifically, a gallon is defined as the amount of water that weighs 8 pounds. And of course, a pint is an eighth of a gallon.

For some other substance than water the duality does not exist. For example, 16 ounces of gasoline is a pound of gasoline, but 16 ounces of gasoline is also 1.33 pints of gasoline.

Answer 2

16 ounces only equals 1 US pint, we more traditional Brits still use the old fashioned and well tried 20 oz pints and 10 lb gallons (for water), and 4.5 litres per gallon etc ... etc.

16 oz has always been the number in 1 lb in UK & US unless your talking Troy weight (as used for the precious metals) which is 12 oz to the lb (Don't know if US is the same).

We know pints and ounces are not the same units but that's not the point in question.

If you like, the density of water in UK is 20oz/pint = 10lb/gal
In the US it's 16oz/pint = 8lb/gal.

And 16 oz of gasoline is still 1 US pint of gasoline.

P.S. A solid ounce is the same as a liquid ounce. But an ounce of butter takes up less volume than an ounce of flour.
And, as far as these measurements are concerned on earth, mass and weight are the same - who needs to know how many Newtons their drinking ?)

Answer 3

16 ounces = 1 pound 16 ounces = 1 pint of water dry wrights and some liquids measure out differently.

Answer 4

One Sixteenth Of A Pound

Answer 5

There are two different measurements. One is a measure of volume, while the other relates to mass. (Mass and weight are not the same thing.)

The fact that the measurements both happen to be called ounces was done just to confuse you.

Answer 6

Because they are two different units of measurement: liquid, or fluid ounces, and solid ounces. Its the same with cooking. A cup of flower will not weigh as much as a cup of oil, because you use different tools to measure them, and because liquid is less dense than a solid. Ounces and cups refer to volume, not density.

Answer 7

16 ounces is a pound(avoirdupois).
16 us fluid ounces is also a pint (usually of beer)

Answer 8

A pint is a pound the world around.

Answer 9

If I'm not mistaken, the oddity is that it's a difference between liquid measurements and dry measurements.