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Gram
A gram (spelled gramme in England) is a unit of
weight/mass in the metric system. One gram is
equal to about .035 ounces. This means that
you need 28.3 grams to get one ounce. To help
understand that better, there are 16 ounces in
one pound. That means that you need 453.36
grams just to get one pound. The average small
paperclip weighs about one gram. It takes
1000 grams to make one kilogram. Conversely,
it takes 1000 milligrams to make one gram.
One gram is equal to 0.035 ounces.
Plastic weights showing various
amounts of grams (g).
FEATURED BOOK: Oxford Dictionary of Weights, Measures, and Units
Grams are often used in medicine to administer the measure medication amounts. It is
also the most commonly used measurement for non-liquid cooking and grocery
ingredients. In the past, gram was commonly abbreviated as "gm."
"Where Medical Information is Easy to Understand"™
Other abbreviations include Gm, GM, gr, grm,
gms, and grms. The preferred abbreviation today
for gram is "g" as defined by the International
Symbol of Units (SI). This is preceded by the
number of grams and a space such as 250 g.
The abbreviation “g” is used because serious
medical errors can result from inaccurately
converting grams to milligrams with other
abbreviations (e.g.., gm for grams and mg for
milligrams). Gram comes from the Latin word
"gramma," meaning "small weight."
