Humans have been weighing objects for centuries
What humans weighed centuries ago is not much different from what we weigh today: crops, animals, and gold and other metals are still commonly weighed
But whether you have a scale or not, knowing how much something weighs is a good life skill
And in general, starting with a small weight—say, thinking of things that weigh five pounds—can help you estimate the weight of various objects on the fly
There are many different household items, foods, and pets that weigh five pounds, including a paper branch, two and a half pineapples, and a chihuahua
Seven things that weigh five pounds
A bag of flour
Two and a half 12-inch pizzas
Five pounds seems like an easy way to estimate how much something weighs, and it doesn’t seem like that much weight
Or, it could be a five-pound dog, which is a relatively small dog
But what about the more common items?
What are the items in our house or the things we encounter every day that weigh five pounds?
Household items weighing five pounds
Looking around the house, you might wonder, “What weighs five pounds?” Besides the obvious, like the five-pound package of ground beef in the freezer, we explore some everyday items that hit the five-pound mark
Five bath towels weigh about five pounds, as well as:
A twin size full sheet set
In the kitchen, there are also several five-pound items, including:
Food weighing five pounds
Walking into the kitchen or down the grocery aisle, you’ll find plenty of items under five pounds, including:
Two and a half pineapples
Half a gallon of milk
A gallon of ice cream
Of course, while you’re at the grocery store, you can weigh the produce to determine the price (however, the scanners in the checkout lines usually do the trick if you’re not on a tight budget
However, many chefs, both home and professional, will sometimes use kitchen scales to weigh their ingredients to ensure accurate results
And if you don’t have one, using these above as a base is a good way to estimate what you’re dealing with
Animals weighing five pounds
Do you live in an apartment with a pet weight limit or do you want a pet that you can easily take with you on a plane?
If you are thinking about getting a pet but are concerned about size, there are a few pet options that may be good for you because they all weigh around five pounds
Smaller cats and smaller dogs like the Chihuahua or Japanese Chin stay around five pounds
But, if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, you can look into getting a chicken, which is another animal that weighs about five pounds
If you want to get more than one pet, you can also consider getting two or three box turtles
An adult eastern box turtle weighs up to two pounds
But, be prepared for compromise; these animals can live up to 100 years
While five pounds may not seem like a lot, what if we doubled the amount?
What are some things that weigh ten pounds?
We could always duplicate the items above, but there are some singular objects that weigh ten pounds
Items in your home that can tip the ten-pound scale are:
A gallon of paint
A bag of potatoes
If you’re thinking of getting a pet that’s a little over five pounds, English Toy Spaniels average around ten pounds and Miniature Pinschers
Most common domestic cats also weigh around ten pounds
Now that you know some objects weigh five pounds, you can use that as an estimate to understand the weight of other objects 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 items from around your house on this list as a substitute (although no pets are recommended)
How many five-pound objects would weigh the same as you?
Originally from New York, Emily now lives and works in Europe