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 or not you own a scale, knowing how much something weighs is a good life skill to have
And, in general, starting with a small weight—for example, by thinking about things that weigh five pounds—can help you estimate the weights of various objects on the fly
There are many different household, food, and pet items that weigh five pounds, such as a stack 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 quid?
Five pounds seems like an easy way to estimate how much something weighs, and it doesn’t feel 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 objects in our home or things we encounter every day that weigh five pounds?
Household items weighing five pounds
Looking around your home, you may ask yourself, “What weighs five pounds?” Besides the obvious, like the five pound pack of ground beef in the freezer, let’s explore some everyday items that have hit the five pound limit
Five bath towels weigh around five pounds, as do:
A full set of twin sized sheets
There are also several five pound items in the kitchen, such as:
Foods weighing five pounds
Walking into the kitchen or down the grocery store aisle, you’ll come across many items that hit the five pound mark, such as:
Two and a half pineapples
Half liter of milk
A liter of ice cream
Of course, while you’re at the grocery store, you can weigh produce to determine price (but checkout scanners usually do the trick if you’re not too tight on a budget
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 items above as a basis 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 on a plane with you?
If you’re thinking about getting a pet but are concerned about size, there are a few pet choices that might be good for you because they all weigh about five pounds
Smaller cats and extra small dogs like the Chihuahua or Japanese Chin stay around the five pound mark
But, if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, you could look into getting a chicken, which is another animal that weighs about five pounds
If you’re looking to get more than one pet, you might also want to think about 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
While five pounds might not seem like a lot, what happens if we double the amount?
What are some things that weigh ten pounds?
We could always double the items above, but there are some singular items that weigh ten pounds
Items in your home that could reach the scale at ten pounds are:
A liter of paint
A bag of potatoes
If you are considering getting a pet just over five pounds, English toy spaniels average around ten pounds and miniature pinschers
Even the most common house cats weigh around ten pounds
Now that you know some objects weigh five pounds, you can use that 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 weights nearby, you can take a few items around the house from this list as a substitute (though pets aren’t recommended)
How many five-pound items would equal your own weight?
Originally from New York, Emily now lives and works in Europe