A bag of bricks or a bag of feathers?

This this old riddle, "which weighs more, a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers?" This is a trick question because they answer is a pound is a pound.

This riddle is wrong, isn't it? Feathers are less dense and therefore the wouldn't *feel* as heavy...right? Wouldn't the more concentrated weight of a ten-pound bag of bricks register a bit heavier on a digital scale than a 10-pound bag of feathers?

@vivify
All it would do is dent the cover🙂 It would still register 10 pounds though.
I thought about the equivalence principle and thought a very sensitive g force reader could tell the difference in acceleration V just being say on the surface of a planet with 1 g of gravity V exactly 1 g of acceleration in say an elevator type room where you can't see out and such. You are to figure out if it is in 1 g gravity or 1 g of accel. I think if you had say three sensors or maybe 5 with one in center and the other four at the corner and walls, since gravity from a mass would have a slight difference because the distance to the gravity center would be slightly different in the center V the edges and an extremely sensitive g meter would be able to see that and conclude, yes I am in a rocket or yes I am in a g field.

@vivify said
This this old riddle, "which weighs more, a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers?" This is a trick question because they answer is a pound is a pound.

This riddle is wrong, isn't it? Feathers are less dense and therefore the wouldn't *feel* as heavy...right? Wouldn't the more concentrated weight of a ten-pound bag of bricks register a bit heavier on a digital scale than a 10-pound bag of feathers?

No? The definition of a pound is that which weighs a pound, not that which looks like a pound. If it registers a bit heavier than a pound on a digital scale, then it is a bit more than a pound, and therefore, not a pound.

Now, which is heavier, a pound of bricks or a pound of gold...?

@shallow-blue said
No? The definition of a pound is that which weighs a pound, not that which looks like a pound. If it registers a bit heavier than a pound on a digital scale, then it is a bit more than a pound, and therefore, not a pound.

Now, which is heavier, a pound of bricks or a pound of gold...?

Which is easier to pick up: the average 50 pound child or a 50 pound dumbbell?

Obviously density is a factor affecting weight, not just the number on a scale.

@vivify said
Which is easier to pick up: the average 50 pound child or a 50 pound dumbbell?

Obviously density is a factor affecting weight, not just the number on a scale.

That difficulty difference is due to weight distribution not weight itself.

The feathers in an atmosphere will have slightly more atmospheric bouyance and resistance to acceleration. The former could theoretically be measured with a scale but it's probably negligable.

Consider a helium balloon which has 10 lbs of weight but due to atmospheric bouyancy pressure feels like negative weight.

@vivify said
Which is easier to pick up: the average 50 pound child or a 50 pound dumbbell?

Obviously density is a factor affecting weight, not just the number on a scale.

No.

It's a factor affecting ease, not weight. Weight is a very specific thing, which is not "how likely am I, the poster calling myself vivify, to drop this object down a lift shaft?"

A pound is a pound is a pound is a pound on the scales, not a wriggle in your arms.

And I still want to know whether a pound of bricks is heavier or lighter than a pound of gold.

Precious metals use the Troy system and that means a pound of said metals is 12 ounces so the feathers or bricks would be heavier at, I think 16 ounces per pound.
I used to collect coins.

@shallow-blue said
No.

It's a factor affecting ease, not weight. Weight is a very specific thing, which is not "how likely am I, the poster calling myself vivify, to drop this object down a lift shaft?"

A pound is a pound is a pound is a pound on the scales, not a wriggle in your arms.

And I still want to know whether a pound of bricks is heavier or lighter than a pound of gold.

From https://www.mygemologist.com/learn/jewelry-metals/measuring-gold-weight/

The old riddle goes: what weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of gold? Some say gold because it is heavier. Others say they are both a pound so they weigh the same. Both are wrong. How can this be? Tradition. Gold is not weighed in the ordinary weights. Gold is weighed in the troy measurement system. One ounce of gold is not the same as the ordinary ounce (really called avoirdupois ounce).

The best way to understand this is to convert them both to a uniform system. A gram or gramme is a standard metric unit of mass. An avoirdupois ounce converts to 28.34 grams approximately. The troy ounce is 31.1 approximately. You say, “Aha! Gold weigh more, so a pound of gold weighs more than a pound of feathers.” Unfortunately there is one more piece of the puzzle. We all know 16 ounces equal a pound. True in the avoirdupois system, but not in the troy. In the Troy system only 12 ounces equal a pound. So a pound of feathers weighs 453.59 grams approximately and a pound of gold weighs 373.24 approximately. So a pound of feathers weighs more then a pound of gold.

Some say gold because it is heavier. Others say they are both a pound so they weigh the same. Both are wrong.

There is more trivia about gold weights. The troy system historically was used for measuring the weight of drugs, precious metals and gemstones. The name comes from the French city of Troyes. The noble metals (gold, silver and platinum) all use the troy system. A troy ounce is 20 pennyweights. The pennyweight was the weight of a silver penny in medieval England. When pennies were introduced in England in the 8th century, their original weight is believed to have been 24 grains. This was gradually reduced, in at least thirteen stages until it reached 7.27 grains by 1816. 24 grains = 1 pennyweight and 20 pennyweights = 1 ounce troy.

<define pound, and you answer for the bricks as well>

@athousandyoung said
That difficulty difference is due to weight distribution not weight itself.

Yes. That's what I'm driving at. The weight distribution obviously doesn't change the total weight, but it can still make something more difficult to pick up.

I have a 40 pound dumbbell that my five year old twins can't pick up, even though they weigh just a bit more than that, and are perfectly capable of lifting each other off the ground.

I'm aware that "feels heavier" doesn't equate to *is* heavier. But I still can't shake the feeling that the riddle in the OP isn't entirely correct. But that's just perception, not reality.

(shrug). Thanks for your response.

@mayor said
Precious metals use the Troy system and that means a pound of said metals is 12 ounces so the feathers or bricks would be heavier at, I think 16 ounces per pound.
I used to collect coins.

Precisely.

This only works in English measure. A kilogram is a kilogram for every substance; there's no such thing as troy or avoirdupois kilograms.

@vivify said
This this old riddle, "which weighs more, a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers?" This is a trick question because they answer is a pound is a pound.

This riddle is wrong, isn't it? Feathers are less dense and therefore the wouldn't *feel* as heavy...right? Wouldn't the more concentrated weight of a ten-pound bag of bricks register a bit heavier on a digital scale than a 10-pound bag of feathers?

They weigh the same and there is nothing to debate here.

Nonetheless, the correct answer to the riddle is, "which would you rather get hit in the head with? A pillowcase filled with feathers or a pillowcase filled with bricks."

@vivify
Well one thing, a 50 pound dumbell won't fight back, ever try to pick up a 50 pound kid flailing arms and legs in a tantrum?

LoL that's funny and true.

In my experience a weight that covers more area is easier to lift than, say, a dumbbell.

Weight per square inch feels heavier than weight per square foot. I imagine it's all relative or something.

@vivify said
This this old riddle, "which weighs more, a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers?" This is a trick question because they answer is a pound is a pound.

This riddle is wrong, isn't it? Feathers are less dense and therefore the wouldn't *feel* as heavy...right? Wouldn't the more concentrated weight of a ten-pound bag of bricks register a bit heavier on a digital scale than a 10-pound bag of feathers?

The confusion is a weight vs. density issue. Weight is a force.

The riddle is not wrong. A 10 kg bag of helium will weigh the same as a 10 kg bag of feathers too, but if tied to an obese man in a lawn chair the helium bag will rocket the lawn chair up to 11,000 feet.

I don't know how one would weigh helium though.