Pound (mass) Pound (mass) The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement. Various definitions have been used; the most common today is the international avoirdupois pound, which is legally defined as exactly , and which is divided into 16 avoirdupois ounces. The international standard symbol for the avoirdupois pound is lb; an alternative symbol is lb (for most pound definitions), # (chiefly in the U.S.), and ℔ or ″̶ (specifically for the apothecaries' pound). The unit is descended from the Roman "libra" (hence the abbreviation "lb"). The English word
How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? The practical lesson to be drawn from the argument is not to use words like "there" in a loose, unscientific way, without specifying whether you mean "located there" or "occupying space there." In the humoristic magazine "Annals of Improbable Research", Anders Sandberg has presented a calculation based on theories of information physics and quantum gravity, establishing an upper bound of 8.6766×10 angels. Comparing medieval superstition and modern science, George Bernard Shaw wrote in the introduction to the play "Saint Joan" that "The medieval doctors of divinity who did not pretend to settle how many angels could dance on the point