Pounds to Carats (lb to ct)

1 pound equals 2,267.96185 carats exactly.

1 pound = 2,267.96185 carats

How to convert pounds to carats

To convert pounds to carats, multiply the number of pounds by 2,267.96185. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply carats by 0.0004409245244 (rounded).

carats = pounds × 2,267.96185

Example: 10 pounds = 22,679.6185 carats.

About these units

Pound (lb)

US & ImperialCurrent unit

Exactly 0.45359237 kg, divided into 16 ounces. The standard unit of weight in the US and common in the UK.

Why is pound abbreviated lb? The answer is Roman. The English word comes from the Latin libra pondo, roughly the weight measured in libra, and the symbol keeps the first word. The Roman libra was divided into 12 unciae. The avoirdupois pound of 16 ounces came into general use around 1300 and was initially equal to 6,992 troy grains; under Elizabeth I it was redefined as 7,000 grains. The UK's Weights and Measures Act 1878 set the imperial standard pound as a platinum cylinder, and the troy pound was abolished for trade the following year.

Today the pound is defined from the kilogram. The International Yard and Pound Agreement of 1959 fixed it at exactly 0.45359237 kg, and the UK's Weights and Measures Act 1963 wrote the same figure into law. Pounds remain the everyday unit for body weight, groceries and shipping in the United States and are widely used in the UK. The word also survives in odd places: a six-pounder cannon was named for the weight of its shot, not its own.

1 pound = 0.45359237 kilograms (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Pound (mass); NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8 (mass conversions)

Carat (ct)

Metric (SI)Current unit

Exactly 200 milligrams. The unit for weighing gemstones such as diamonds. Not to be confused with the karat, a measure of gold purity.

Jewellers once weighed stones against seeds. The word carat traces back to the Greek keration, meaning a carob seed, and reached English through Italian and Arabic. Carob seeds were used as balance weights for gems and gold, though their mass varies about as much as any seed does. Before 1907 each country had its own carat, ranging from roughly 187 to 216 milligrams. It was used for gold early on and for diamonds from the 1570s. An international carat of 205 mg was proposed in Paris in 1871, but the 200 mg metric carat won out.

The metric carat was adopted at the Fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1907. France made it mandatory, the United States followed in 1913 and the United Kingdom in 1914. Today it is exactly 200 mg, so five carats make a gram, and it is divided into 100 points of 2 mg each; a diamond described as 25 points is a quarter carat. Carat is used for gemstones and pearls, and it should not be mixed up with karat, which measures the purity of gold and is a separate idea.

1 carat = 0.0002 kilograms (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Carat (mass); NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8 (mass conversions)

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