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The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a
unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (a ...
of
mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...
in the
International System of Units The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. ...
(SI) equal to one one thousandth of a
kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially. ...
. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute
weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...
of a
volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). ...
of pure
water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...
equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a
metre The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pre ...
cm3],_and_at_
cm3],_and_at_Melting_point_of_water">the_temperature_of_Melting_point.html" "title="Melting_point_of_water.html" ;"title="Cubic_centimetre.html" ;"title=" Cubic centimetre">cm3], and at Melting point of water">the temperature of Melting point">melting Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase transition of a substance from a solid to a liquid. This occurs when the internal energy of the solid increases, typically by the application of heat or pressure, which in ...
ice", the defining temperature (~0 °C) was later changed to 4 °C, the temperature of maximum density of water. However, by the late 19th century, there was an effort to make the Base unit (measurement), base unit the
kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially. ...
and the gram a derived unit. In 1960, the new
International System of Units The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. ...
defined a ''gram'' as one one-thousandth of a kilogram (i.e., one gram is Scientific notation, 1×10−3 kg). The kilogram, as of 2019, is defined by the
International Bureau of Weights and Measures The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (french: Bureau international des poids et mesures, BIPM) is an intergovernmental organisation, through which its 59 member-states act together on measurement standards in four areas: chemistry ...
from the fixed numerical value of the
Planck constant The Planck constant, or Planck's constant, is a fundamental physical constant of foundational importance in quantum mechanics. The constant gives the relationship between the energy of a photon and its frequency, and by the mass-energy equivale ...
(), which is kg⋅m2⋅s−1.


Official SI symbol

The only unit symbol for gram that is recognised by the
International System of Units The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. ...
(SI) is "g" following the numeric value with a space, as in "640 g" to stand for "640 grams" in the English language. The SI does not permit the use of abbreviations such as "gr" (which is the symbol for grains),National Institute of Standards and Technology (October 2011). Butcher, Tina; Cook, Steve; Crown, Linda et al. eds
"Appendix C – General Tables of Units of Measurement"
(PDF)
''Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices''
. NIST Handbook. 44 (2012 ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
ISSN An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs a ...
br>0271-4027
OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...
. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
"gm" ("g⋅m" is the SI symbol for gram-
metre The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pre ...
) or "Gm" (the SI symbol for gigametre).


History

The word ''gramme'' was adopted by the French
National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nation ...
in its 1795 decree revising the metric system as replacing the ''gravet'' introduced in 1793. Its definition remained that of the weight (''poids'') of a cubic centimetre of water. French ''gramme'' was taken from the
Late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
term '. This word—ultimately from Greek (''grámma''), "letter"—had adopted a specialised meaning in
Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...
of "one twenty-fourth part of an ounce" (two
oboli The obol ( grc-gre, , ''obolos'', also ὀβελός (''obelós''), ὀβελλός (''obellós''), ὀδελός (''odelós'').  "nail, metal spit"; la, obolus) was a form of ancient Greek currency and weight. Currency Obols were u ...
), corresponding to about 1.14 modern grams. This use of the term is found in the ''carmen de ponderibus et mensuris'' ("poem about weights and measures") composed around 400 AD. There is also evidence that the Greek was used in the same sense at around the same time, in the 4th century, and survived in this sense into
Medieval Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman c ...
, while the Latin term did not remain current in
Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
and was recovered in
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
scholarship. The gram was the base unit of mass in the 19th-century centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). The CGS system co-existed with the
metre–kilogram–second system of units The MKS system of units is a physical system of measurement that uses the metre, kilogram, and second (MKS) as base units. It forms the base of the International System of Units (SI), though SI has since been redefined by different fundamental co ...
(MKS), first proposed in 1901, during much of the 20th century, but the gram was displaced by the
kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially. ...
as the base unit for mass when the MKS system was chosen for the SI base units in 1960.


Uses

The gram is today the most widely used unit of measurement for non-liquid ingredients in cooking and grocery shopping worldwide. Liquid ingredients may be measured by
volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). ...
rather than mass. Many standards and legal requirements for nutrition labels on food products require relative contents to be stated per 100 g of the product, such that the resulting figure can also be read as a percentage.


Conversion factors

* 1 gram (g) = 15.4323583529 grains (gr) * 1 grain (gr) = 0.06479891 grams * 1
avoirdupois ounce The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement. The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States customa ...
(oz) = 28.349523125 grams * 1 troy ounce (ozt) = 31.1034768 grams * 100 grams (g) = 3.527396195 ounces (oz) * 1 carat (ct) = 0.2 grams * 1 gamma (γ) = 10−6 grams * 1 undecimogramme = 1 "eleventh-gram" = 10−11 grams in the historic quadrant–eleventh-gram–second system (
QES The history of the metric system began during the Age of Enlightenment with measures of length and weight derived from nature, along with their decimal multiples and fractions. The system became the standard of France and Europe within half a ce ...
system) a.k.a. hebdometre–undecimogramme–second system (HUS system) * 500 grams (g) = 1 jin in the Chinese units of measurement.


Comparisons

*1 gram is roughly equal to the mass of 1 small paper clip or pen cap. *The Japanese
1 yen coin The is the smallest denomination of the Japanese yen currency. Historically they were initially made of both silver and gold in the early 1870s. Issues facing the Japanese government at the time included wanting to adopt the gold standard, and c ...
has a mass of 1 gram, lighter than the British penny (3.56 g), the
United States penny The cent, the United States one-cent coin (symbol: ¢), often called the "penny", is a unit of currency equaling one one-hundredth of a United States dollar. It has been the lowest face-value physical unit of U.S. currency since the abolition ...
(2.5 g), the Euro cent (2.30 g), and the
Australian 5 cent coin The Australian five-cent coin (Nickel) (originally called a "zac") is the lowest-denomination circulating coin of the decimal Australian dollar introduced in 14 February 1966, replacing the pre-decimal sixpence. It has been the lowest-denomina ...
(2.80 g).


See also

*
Conversion of units Conversion of units is the conversion between different units of measurement for the same quantity, typically through multiplicative conversion factors which change the measured quantity value without changing its effects. Overview The process ...
*
Duella A duella was an ancient Roman unit of weight, equivalent to a third of a Roman ounce (9.056 gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogr ...
*
Gold gram Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
* Orders of magnitude (mass) *
Gram (Mythology) In Norse mythology, Gram (Old Norse ''Gramr'', meaning "Wrath"), also known as Balmung or Nothung, is the sword that Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir. It is primarily used by the Völsungs in the ''Volsunga Saga''. However, it is also se ...


Notes


References

{{Authority control Units of mass Centimetre–gram–second system of units