Pound in Math: Definition with Examples

A world without units of measurement would leave us with just numbers and that would be utter mathematical chaos!

Imagine how you would express your weight or height if you did not know what pounds or inches were. You wouldn’t be able to quantify anything, and even a simple task like buying groceries would become so difficult. Therefore, we have units of measurement.

We have two different systems available with us for measurement—the English system and the metric system. We use the English system in the US, which evolved in medieval England. 

Let’sl explore the concept of the pound in maths, which is a unit from the English system that you may often come across while talking about the weight of an object.

What is a Pound in Maths?

Pound in maths is a unit of measurement that indicates how much mass an object has or the amount of matter occupied by the object.

In simpler words, pounds tell us how heavy an object is. For example, the weight of a soccer ball is about one pound. 

A pound is expressed as lb or lbs, where “lb” stands for libra. It is a Latin word that means “balance” or “scale”. So, 10 pounds is written as 10 lbs.

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What Is an Ounce?

Just like when we measure the lengths of objects, we use centimeters and meters. We use a centimeter to measure the length of smaller objects and a meter for bigger objects. The same is the case with pounds and ounces. If an object is not too heavy, we can simply express its weight in ounces, but for more heavy objects, we express their weight in pounds. As a real life example, when you go grocery shopping, you might come across a few items sold in ounces and some sold in pounds.

An ounce is expressed by the abbreviation “oz”, which comes from the Italian and Spanish word onza.

Conversion of Pounds to Ounces

The relationship between pounds and ounces is given as:

1 pound (lbs) = 16 ounces (oz) 

So, we know that 1 pound in ounce is 16 ounces. 

So, by this relation, if we have 2 pounds, it means we have 2 × 16 = 32 ounces.
Or 2 lbs = 32 oz

Conversion of Ounces to Pounds

The relationship between ounces and pounds is given as:

1 ounce (oz) = 1/16 pounds

So by this relation, if we have 64 ounces, it means we have 64 ÷ 16 = 4 pounds.
Or 64 oz = 4 lbs

Solved Examples

Example 1: Convert 4 pounds into ounces.

Solution:

We know that

1 lbs = 16 oz

Therefore 4 lbs = 4 × 16 = 64 oz

Example 2: Convert 80 ounces into pounds.

Solution:

We know that,

1 ounce = 1/16 pounds

Therefore, 80 oz = 80 ÷ 16 = 5 lbs

Example 3: Convert 32,000 oz into lbs.

Solution:

We know that,

1 ounce = 1/16 pounds

Therefore, 32,000 oz = 32,000 ÷ 16 = 2,000 lbs

Example 4: Convert 22 lbs into oz.

Solution:

We know that,

1 lbs = 16 oz

Therefore, 22 lbs = 22 × 16 = 352 oz

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