Pounds and Ounces

Mr. Squeaks is participating in a competition to prove he's got brains and brawn. The objects he is lifting are being measured using pounds and ounces. In order to see how much weight Mr. Squeaks is lifting, we need to learn how to convert pounds and ounces. Pounds and ounces measure weight, which is how heavy an object is. Some objects are heavy and weigh more. "Rawr!" While some objects are lighter and weigh less. "Ahhh." You might have measured weight before using grams and kilograms. These are what we call metric measures. Pounds and ounces are a type of imperial measure which we use sometimes in everyday life. An ounce is a unit used to measure weight that is lighter than a pound. When we write ounces, we use the abbreviation O Z. We may sometimes see ounces in a recipe. A pound is a unit used to measure the weight of heavier objects and we use the abbreviation L B. LB comes from a unit of measurement used during the Roman Times called libra pondo, which translates to pound weight. We use pounds to measure larger objects like babies! When we measure weight with pounds and ounces we use a set of scales. There are many different types of scales and you might recognise them from home, school, the doctor's or even the fruit and vegetable section of a shop. Sometimes we need to convert, or change, ounces to pounds and pounds to ounces. One pound is equal to sixteen ounces and sixteen ounces is equal to one pound. We can use a ratio table to write our conversions. To set up the ratio table, the first step is to label pounds on one side and ounces on the other. One pound is sixteen times bigger than one ounce. That means to convert pounds to ounces, we multiply by sixteen. Write times sixteen next to the pound we are converting and solve. One times sixteen is sixteen, so there are sixteen ounces in one pound. How many ounces are in two pounds? Remember, one pound has sixteen ounces, so we multiply two times sixteen. What is two times sixteen? Since two times sixteen is thirty-two there are thirty-two ounces in two pounds. Next, let's convert forty-eight ounces into pounds how can we do that? We convert using the inverse or opposite operation. The inverse operation of multiplication is division, which means we'll need to divide by sixteen. What is forty-eight divided by sixteen? Forty-eight divided by sixteen is three which means there are forty-eight ounces in three pounds. Now, let's continue using the ratio table to see how much weight Mr. Squeaks lifted! He just lifted a stone that is labelled ten pounds. How many ounces did he lift? Remember when we convert pounds to ounces we multiply by sixteen. What is ten times sixteen? Ten times sixteen is one hundred and sixty. That means Mr. Squeaks lifted one hundred and sixty ounces! Next, Mr. Squeaks lifted a barbell with ten pounds labelled on each side for a total of twenty pounds! How many ounces did Mr. Squeaks lift? What is twenty times sixteen? Twenty times sixteen is three hundred and twenty that means Mr. Squeaks lifted three hundred and twenty ounces! Before we watch the final event, let's summarise. Remember, an ounce is a unit used to measure weight that is lighter than a pound and we use the abbreviation O Z. A pound is a unit used to measure the weight of heavier objects and we use the abbreviation L B. Weight is how heavy something is, and we can measure weight in pounds and ounces using a set of scales. Since there are sixteen ounces in one pound, we can convert pounds into ounces using a ratio table to multiply by sixteen and we can convert ounces into pounds using a ratio table to divide by sixteen. It looks like Mr. Squeaks is about to complete the final event, will he take first place? Ta-daa!