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breckenridgeback t1_ja9znac wrote

Reply to comment by r2k-in-the-vortex in ELI5 how pounds can be converted to kg by cheeseunused

It is, formally speaking, a different unit. But for our purposes here on the Earth, where the vast majority of practical use of the units is conducted, the two are proportional and that proportionality is constant enough for the difference not to matter.

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r2k-in-the-vortex t1_jaa1top wrote

If you can't tell a difference between force and mass you might as well not bother measuring anything and just eyeball it.

And the difference of how much a pound weighs varies significantly, at poles its half a percent more than on equator. That's a lot, half a percent makes a difference between a buy and a sell.

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