Everything about Grain Mass totally explained
In many cultures, a
grain is a
unit of
mass based on the mass of single seed of a typical
cereal crop. In
Europe, the average mass of
wheat or
barley grains was historically used to define mass units.
Since
1958, a
grain or
troy grain (symbol:
gr) is internationally defined in terms of the
metric system by the equation
» 1 gr = 64.79891 mg,
for example 1 grain is
exactly 64.79891
milligrams.
The grain is the only unit which all three traditional
English mass and weight systems (
avoirdupois,
Apothecaries’ and
troy) have in common.
As a mass unit for
pearls and
diamonds, a
metric grain or
pearl grain is equal to of a (metric)
carat, for example 50 mg (0.77 gr).
Usage in North America
Grains are currently used in the
United States and
Canada to measure the mass of
bullets and
gunpowder, and scales for
handloading measure in grains; bullets are generally measured in increments of 1 grain, gunpowder in increments of 0.1 grains. Grains are used to weigh the tools involved in the sport of
fencing, including the foil. Grains are used to measure arrows, and arrow parts in
archery.
Grains are also used in environmental permitting to quantify particulate emissions. Grains are used to measure the amount of moisture per cubic foot of air, a measure of absolute humidity.
History
| carob seed |
~200 mg |
| barley grain |
~65 mg |
| wheat grain |
~50 mg |
At least since
antiquity, grains of wheat or barley were used by
Mediterranean traders to define units of mass; along with other seeds, especially those of the
carob tree. According to a longstanding tradition, 1
carat (the mass of a carob seed) was equivalent to the weight of 4 wheat grains or 3 barleycorns. But since the weights of these seeds are highly variable, especially that of the cereals as a function of moisture, this is a convention more than an absolute law.
The history of the modern troy grain can be traced back to a royal decree in
13th century England:
The traditional reading of this text is that it refers to the troy pound, and that the reference to sterling pennies is purely symbolic. According to a more recent reading, however, the pound in question is the
Tower pound, and it talks about the actual mass of real sterling pennies.. The Tower pound, abolished in
1527, consisted of 12 ounces like the troy pound, but was lighter. In any case, with both readings one needs to substitute 24 barley grains for the 32 wheat grains of the text, according to the general convention of a 4:3 equivalence, for it to make sense. The weight of the original sterling pennies was 22½ troy grains, or 24 "Tower grains" if the Tower pound was divided in the same way as the troy pound.
Regardless of which pound this text originally referred to, a (troy) ounce still equals 20×24 = 480(troy) grains, and a pound consists of 12×20×24 = 5760 grains.
Originally the troy pound was only "the pound of Pence, Spices, Confections, as of
Electuaries", and the merchants used different standards, which had to be compatible with those used abroad.
One such standard, the avoirdupois pound, was later fixed officially at exactly 7000 troy grains. It consists of 16 avoirdupois ounces of 437½ troy grains each.
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