Humans have been weighing objects for centuries
What humans weighed centuries ago is not much different from what we weigh today: crops, animals, 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 to have
And, generally, starting with a small weight — for example, thinking of things that weigh five pounds — can help you estimate the weight of various objects on the fly
There are many household items, foods, and pets that weigh five pounds, such as a ream of paper, 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
How much is five pounds?
Five pounds seems like an easy way to estimate the weight of something, and doesn’t seem to weigh that much
Or, it could be a five pound dog, which is a relatively small dog
But what about the more common items?
What are the objects in our house, or the things we encounter every day that weigh five pounds?
Household items that weigh five pounds
Looking around, you may be wondering, “What weighs five pounds?” Besides the obvious, like the five-pound package of ground beef in the freezer, let’s explore a few everyday items that hit the five-pound mark
Five bath towels weigh about five pounds, along with:
A set of double size sheets
In the kitchen, there are also several five-pound items, such as:
Foods That Weigh Five Pounds
Walking into the kitchen or the grocery aisle, you will come across many items that hit the five pound mark, such as:
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 products to determine the price (but, checkout scanners usually do the trick if your budget isn’t too tight
However, many chefs, both home and professional, sometimes use kitchen scales to weigh their ingredients to ensure accurate results
And, if you don’t have one, using the above as a baseline is a good way to estimate what you’re dealing with
Animals that weigh 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’re considering getting a pet but are worried about their size, there are a few pet choices that might be right for you, as they all weigh around five pounds
Smaller cats and very small dogs like the Chihuahua or Japanese Chin stay around the five pound mark
But, if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, you might consider getting a chicken, which is another animal that weighs around five pounds
If you’re looking to have 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 ready for the commitment; these animals can live up to 100 years
Although five pounds may not seem like much, what if we double the amount?
What are some things that weigh ten pounds?
We could always double down on the items above, but there are some singular items that weigh ten pounds
Items in your home that can hit the ten-pound scale are:
A gallon of paint
A bag of potatoes
If you plan to have a pet that weighs just over five pounds, English Toy Spaniels average about ten pounds and Miniature Pinschers
The most common house cats also weigh around 10 pounds
Now that you know some objects that weigh five pounds, you can use them as an estimate to figure out 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 any weights nearby, you can grab some items around your house from this list as a substitute (however, animals pets are not recommended)
How many five pound objects would weigh the same as you?
Originally from New York, Emily now lives and works in Europe