Now that you have done some work on using imperial units to measure length, you will turn your attention on how to measure the imperial units of mass.

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Let's look more closely at the imperial units of mass (weight). The three units of measurement that we use the most when talking about imperial mass are the ounce, pound, and ton.

An ounce is the smallest of the imperial units of mass that you will use. An ounce of mass is about 30 grams. Ounce is abbreviated as oz.


An ounce is very light. Thinking of the question you answered above, a slice of bread would weigh about an ounce.


Gold is measured in ounces.

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A pound equals 16 ounces. Pound is abbreviated as lb.

A block of butter has a mass of one pound.

As you know, you most often give your weight in pounds. Pounds are used to measure lots of things, from people, to food,to animals.

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• A ton equals 2,000 pounds. A ton is abbreviated as t.

• Tons are used to measure such things as trucks, ships, or large animals.

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• In some countries, a ton can mean 2,240 pounds, so to be clear, we can use short and long in front of ton, like this:
  
  •A short ton is 2,000 pounds.
  •A long ton is 2,240 pounds.

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When working with imperial measurements at school, at work, at home, or in your community, it is important that you choose the appropriate unit of measure. Practise choosing the appropriate unit of measure for the items below.