People have weighed things for centuries
What people weighed was no different than what we weigh today: plants, animals, gold and other metals were always weighed
But whether you have a scale or not, knowing how much something weighs out of hand is a good life skill to have
And usually, starting with a small weight—like thinking about things that weigh five pounds—can help you estimate the weight of different items on the fly
There are many different household items, foods, and five-pound animals, such as a ream of peppers, two and a half pineapples, and a chihuahua
Seven things to five pounds
A bag of flour
Two and a half 12-inch pizzas
Five pounds seems like an easy way to compare how much something weighs and isn’t the same as how much it weighs
Or a five-pound dog, a small dog
But what about the normal ones?
What are the things in our home, or the things we see every day that weigh five pounds?
Five Pound Home Appliances
As you look around your house, you might be thinking, “What weighs five pounds?” Aside from the obvious—like a five-pound piece of beef in the freezer—let’s look for some everyday items that hit the five-pound mark
The bath weighs five pounds, and:
A double-sided piece of paper
In the kitchen, there are some five-pound items, such as:
Five Pound Foods
When you walk into the kitchen or down the aisle at the grocery store, you’ll see many items that hit the five-pound mark, such as:
Two and a half pineapples
A half gallon of milk
A gallon of ice
Of course, while you’re at the store, you can weigh the product to determine the price (but shoppers usually do checkout lines outside if you’re tight on money
However, many cooks—both at home and in the workplace—occasionally use kitchen scales to weigh their food to ensure accurate results
And, if you don’t have one, then using those above as a base is a great way to choose what you’re doing
Five Pound Animals
Live in an apartment with a pet weight limit or want a pet you can easily take with you on the plane?
If you are thinking about getting a pig but are worried about the size, there are some pet options that can be good for you because they weigh up to five pounds
Small cats and other small dogs such as chihuahuas or Japanese chins stay around five pounds
But if you’re feeling more adventurous, you can look into shooting a chicken, which is another animal that weighs about five pounds
If you are looking to get more than one pet, you can consider getting two or three box turtles
An adult eastern box turtle weighs about two pounds
But be prepared for the challenge; these animals can live up to 100 years
While five pounds doesn’t sound like much, what if we double the amount?
What are some things that weigh ten pounds?
We can only double the above, but there are different ones that weigh ten pounds
Items in your home that can tip the scale at ten pounds:
A gallon of paint
A bag of potatoes
If you are thinking of getting a pet that is smaller than five pounds, English toy spaniels are around ten pounds and small pinschers
Most house cats usually weigh around ten pounds
Now that you know a few things that weigh five pounds, you can use this as an estimate to understand the weight of other things around you—especially if you don’t have a scale
And, if you want to lift weights for exercise but don’t have weights nearby, you can grab a few things around your house from this list as a substitute (although, animals are not recommended)
How many pounds do you weigh?
Originally from New York, Emily lived and worked in Europe