On Thursday 26 October 2006 13:29, Nigel Henry wrote: > Both 20 fl oz =pint , and 16 fl oz=pint are correct, depending whether you > are living in the US, or the UK. > > The cooking conversion page is wrong with saying that the conversions apply > to the US, and British measures. The weight conversions apply to both, but > the liquid conversions only apply to the US. > > The page "capacity and volume" makes that clear, where there are > conversions for both US, and UK imperial measures. > > There is a big difference in the size of the US gallon compared to the UK > imperial one, but the comparison between the US fl oz, and the UK imperial > one is slight. Both gallons= 8 pints, and here comes the rub. A pint of > beer in the UK has more beer in it than a pint of beer in the US. > This whole thing has amazed me. I knew about the difference in gallon size - I've met it professionally - but didn't realise that it meant that pints were different as well. The reason for the 20 fl.oz. is simple. The weight of a pint of any liquid depends on its specific gravity. One pint of water weighs 20 ozs. Clearly if you wanted to add a specific volume of a liquid you need a volumetric measurement, and don't want to have to worry about S.G., so everything is compared to water. Ergo, 20 fl. ozs. to the pint. Does anyone know the reasoning behind the US 16 fl. oz., then? Anne
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