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DankChunkyButtAgain t1_ja94q1r wrote

Reply to comment by Ansuz07 in ELI5 how pounds can be converted to kg by cheeseunused

This is why in engineering you learn that pounds can be either a force or a mass, designated lbm or lbf. Pounds mass is based around the gravitational constant only, so it is a weight but because the gravitation constant is standardized it can also be a form of mass. Pounds force accounts for the gravitational constant where the object physically is or needs to be studied. For earth, pounds mass and pounds force are the same. Anywhere else, they will differ.

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Edit: For those who don't know, a slug is the actual imperial unit of mass

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jerwong t1_ja9eeun wrote

Ah yes, lbf, not to be confused with flb or ft-lb, which is an unit of torque.

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zmz2 t1_ja9teo6 wrote

In the unholy metric imperial system flb is just a femtopound

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Any-Growth8158 t1_jaa1xck wrote

Well done! I love mixing metric system prefixes with real units as well.

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