How much does a gram weigh? This question could have several reasons behind it, including:
- What is the conversion of grams to other units of measurement?
- What everyday objects also weigh a gram?
- How do you measure a gram without a scale?
Whatever your reason is for asking this question we likely have the answer for you here. Click on any of the above questions to go straight to the answer you are looking for.
Table of Contents
What is the conversion of grams to other units of measurement?
Here is a quick table that shows how grams stack up against other units of measurements. Most everyone knows about grams (metric) and ounces/pounds (imperial) systems of measurements. But there are other forms of measurements too which we detail below.
How much does a gram weigh compared to other units of measurement
Not familiar with carats or grains? Here’s a quick summary of these units of measurement:
- Carat: A unit of weight for precious stones and pearls, equivalent to 200 milligrams. Often used when dealing with small jewels and jewelry making.
- Grain: One of the earliest units of common measure and the smallest, it is a uniform unit in the avoirdupois, apothecaries’, and troy systems. Commonly used today in the reloading hobby for ammunition.
When it comes to other metric weighing units, the gram is simply the standard unit of weight that is then multiplied or divided by 100s to get to other metric units like milligrams (tiny), kilograms (larger) and metric tonnes (huge).
How much does a gram weigh compared to other metric units
Where does the gram come from?
Originally defined in 1795 as “the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a metre [1 cm3], and at the temperature of melting ice”. Later, the defining temperature (~0 °C) was changed to 4 °C, the temperature of maximum density of water. Full disclosure: At bestfoodscale.com we are far from scientists so the best translation we can give is the gram replaced a previous unit of measurement (the gravet) for the weight of cubic centimeter of water. We’d like our Nobel Prize please!
How is the gram used?
Today, the gram is frequently used as one of the standard units of measurement for dry, or non-liquid, ingredients in cooking and other uses (like supplements or cannabis). Liquid ingredients are often measured by volume rather than mass.
Most standards and legal requirements for nutrition labels for food products require the nutritional nutrients to be stated per 100g of the food product, so the resulting figure can also be read as a percentage.
So how much does a gram weigh? Well, .035 oz, 5 carats, 15.43 grains, 1000 milligrams, .01 kilograms or .0000001 metric tonnes are all accurate answers!
What everyday objects also weigh a gram?
In terms of comparison to everyday objects here are some examples of items that weight about 1 gram: a standard paperclip, a dollar bill, a sugar packet and a raisin. Obviously there will be major fluctuations if you use a smaller or larger version of any of these so this is a very inexact science. For example, a larger raisin could weight up to 5 grams… 5x the weight of 1 gram.
To further help demonstrate how some other objects compare to 1 gram, we did some tests to show our work. It should be noted we used one of the most accurate and trusted scales available to do this test, the Acaia Lunar. For a full review of this scale, see the Acaia Lunar Review.
A normal size safety pin (not one of the miniature versions) came in at 0.9 grams on the scale.
A standard pen cap also came in at 0.9 grams on the scale.
Our only item to come in exactly at 1 gram was the Nerf bullet we tested.
A 2×1 standard Lego brick comes in at 0.8 grams.
The US dime comes in at 2.3 grams.
While the US penny comes in at 2.5 grams.
The standard thumb tack weighs only 0.4 grams.
We could only find a slightly smaller version of the standard paper clip and it came in at 0.4 grams as well.
So how much does a gram weigh? A Nerf bullet is one answer!
How do you measure a gram without a scale?
You may find yourself needing to weigh something without a scale available. To prepare for the longer term, we first encourage you to check out our guides on the best scales for a variety of uses. Almost all of these scales can be at your door within 1 day so you don’t find yourself in this position again.
Now, you still might find yourself without an accessible scale and need to find the weight of an object. We have some solutions to help you – as long as the object is rather light in mass. Here are three ideas to help you weight an item when you don’t have a scale. Please note: All 3 of these options will give you approximations but not precise weight.
1. Use Paper To Make Your Own Balance Scale
Desperate times desperate measures!
How can we use paper to measure an item? Pretty simple actually, if the item is small.
Get a piece of paper from a notebook and fold it in half. Now place it on a flat surface in a way that it should look like a scout’s tent (see picture below).
Get another piece of paper and fold it into 4 equal(ish) parts. This paper’s center should also look like a tent. Place this paper right on top of the first one – in doing so, the “small tent” should sit right on top of the big one.
This will make a paper scale, because two of the four folded parts will stick out from both sides of the folded paper:
Place the item that you want to measure on one side and an item that you know the weight of on the other side. If you wanted to see if something weighed one gram, you could use the Nerf bullet above on one side since we know the weight of that item is 1 gram. You could also used a rolled up dollar bill that also equals about 1 gram. If the item on the other side of the paper scale keeps the whole scale balanced like in the picture, you know the weight equals 1 gram.
In our example above we used two items we know weighed the same, the paper clip and thumb tack at .4 grams each to show the balanced paper scale.
Some other factors to be aware of with this method include making sure your paper is EVENLY folded, fans or airflow can impact this and a sturdier paper is better (but not too sturdy).
2. Use Ruler to Create a Temporary Balance Scale
Use a ruler and a penny to create a temporary scale. Balance the ruler just like you did in childhood using your finger or another fulcrum (we used a marker). Use a penny or multiple pennies on one side (each penny is roughly 2.5 grams), and now you can measure the other item by seeing what balances the scale.
In our example, we wanted to know how much the Lego figure weighs. So we placed the Lego figure on one side of the scale and added pennies until the scale balanced out. In this case, it took two pennies (it’s hard to see the bottom penny but it is there) so we weighed the Lego figure at ~5 grams.
And guess what:
Another way to use this method… use a US nickel on one side of the ruler which weighs about 5 grams if you want to up your weight.
3. Use Your Cell Phone
This day and age, this might be the best tip, but it’s worth mentioning this is more inaccurate than most people realize.
One reason this method works so well is because everyone always has their phone with them. The biggest problem with this method, besides the accuracy, is whether or not your phone is charged…
Do you know what makes smart phones even smarter? Apps. And guess what? There are weighing scale apps like Weight Scale Estimator that can help you weigh items directly on your phone.
Almost anything that can be placed on a cell phone’s screen can be measured this way! Just place it on the screen and it will tell you the weight.
No matter what you do, you should only trust this method so far. A screen is ultimately not designed to be a scale so you can really blame the phone. The other factor is where on the screen you place your weed can change your measurement so if anything with this method just make sure you are consistent.
Checkout this list of the best scale apps to get started.
For more information about weighing cannabis or marijuana without a scale, here is our post with some other options as well.