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Letter 11284
Q. How Much Does a Nickel Weigh ?
John C. 
- Dominguez Hills, California
A.
One nickel weighs exactly as much as two dimes but
less than a quarter. . .
If you cut a quarter into 10 equal pieces, each piece
would weigh 0.57 grams. If you had 75 of those pieces, the
total weight would be the same as the weight of 19 dimes.
This information is accurate to two decimal places, but
is only the average of the three nickels I happen to have in
my pocket today :-)
Bob Zonis
- Bohemia, New York
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U.S. Mint image
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+++
Actually, the precise answer would be 4.5
grams/nickel.
75 pieces (of a quarter) x .57 grams = 42.75 grams
42.75 grams / 19 dimes = 2.25 grams/dime
2.25 grams * 2 dimes (1 nickel is equal to two dimes) = 4.5
grams
This assumes the information of a quarter equaling 5.7
grams is correct.
Scott S.
- Bowling Green , Kentucky
5 GRAMS FOR A NICKEL, 1 GRAM FOR A DOLLAR BILL.
LARRY L.
- San Diego, California
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^-- Browse ebay for
Cool Coins . . .
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Learn more:
per Wikipedia:
- Nickle is an alternative, rarely-used
spelling.
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US Coinage
Penny Standard weight 2.5 grams
Nickel Standard weight 5.0 grams
Dime Standard weight 2.268 grams
Quarter Standard weight 5.670 grams
Gregor C
- Norman, Oklahoma
4.9 would be the answer if you only had to go to one decimal
but weigh it on a 5 decimal place scale to find a funnier one.
William J
- Beaverton, Oregon
+++++
I would like to add my 2 cents in on this one.
First the weight of a penny. A penny (if you weigh 32 of them) can
range in weight from 2.42 Grams to 3.18 grams the difference in the
range is from .00 to .76 (from penny to penny so weigh more than one
to see if your scale falls within this range) . If your scale weighs
a penny and its within these acceptable ranges I would say the scale
is accurate. if its out of that range I would think its off by the
amount outside the range previously stated. Below 2.42 by .1 add .1
of a gram, above 3.18 subtract .1 of a gram, tare or adjust the scale
to account for it.
A nickel can weigh from between 4.9 and 5.1 grams (weighed a
bunch) (heard of 4.8 to 4.85 but only was able to replicate with
heavily used nickels or thousands decimal place scales even then
about 70 percent of the time they were between 4.9 and 5.1)(depends
on the wear, if you wanted to do a real locked down test you could go
to the bank and get a fresh from the press new roll of nickels or
pennies for that matter). If your scale weighs within that range I
would say the scale is accurate to the hundredths decimal
place.
If you are just checking to see if the scale is accurate, go buy a
certified 5.0 gram weight, then get a .5 gram weight, and a .55 gram
weight and weigh them together, should be 6.55.
[Ed. note: see reply of June 18,
2008]
Ok, that's enough about weighing money, I went a wee bit nuts.
Mr D.
- Seattle, Washington
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Thanks, Mr D! You rock!
Laura W
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Weighing money is important and so simple...
Dimes, quarters and half dollars are $20/lb, and
nickels are only $5/lb, and
there are 181 pennies/lb ($1.81) and nobody seems
to pick up on this simplicity...
Furthermore currency is 6.2"x 2.6" x 0.0043" thick (233/inch) and it
takes 375 bills to weigh a lb. Therefore, a briefcase 18.5"x 12.5"x
3" thick will hold $980,000 in $100 bills (two rows of seven [14
stacks] x 3" [700 bills/stack] = $980,000.
And it will weigh 26.1 lbs (375 bills/lb).
I know this because I am a father to my inquisitive children.
Terry H
- Davenport, Iowa
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And here we thought you knew that $980,000 fit in a
briefcase from countin' the loot :-)
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Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey
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Rock with Katie
Holmes
-->
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So a penny weighs 2 grams. In our science class we
measured it and it weighed 0.2 grams
Maria G
- Chicago, Illinois
Somebody misread the scale, Maria. Depending on how the
scale is designed, the mass of the balance weight is not
necessarily the weight of the item you are balancing
against. Nurses would have a hard time weighing us if they
had to slide a 200-pound balance weight along their beam
scale :-)
Maybe that was the weight of the balance weight?
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Ted Mooney
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey |
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+++++
For the accurate weight of any coin, and other nifty
facts about money just go to the website for the U.S. Mint
at this website address:
http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/index.cfm?action%3Dcoin_specifications
Enjoy!
Mike
Mike R
- Iowa City, Iowa
January 5, 2006
Regarding COINS, the PENNY only weighs 2.5 grams
($1.82/lb) and NICKELS weigh 5.0 grams each... and as
mentioned earlier, DIMES, QUARTERS, 1/2 DOLLARS and
Eisenhower DOLLARS are all worth $20.00/lb -- NICKELS, on
the other hand, weighing 1.0 gram/cent (5 grams total, each)
-- since there are 453.6 grams per lb, a pound of NICKELS is
only $4.54/lb... all parents need to know these simplistic
facts because our children are going to inherit the earth --
teach them! It's fun, and fun for them to share with their
friends!
Terry H
- Davenport, Iowa
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Learn about the U.S.
Mint . . .
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January 16, 2006
As far as the exact weight of various coinage it is
really hard to say. Even if the are fresh from the mint
there are so many variables. The best thing to do is way
multiple coins and average them. The more coins the more
inclusive your answer. On most coins the % error is due to
mostly wear, dirt or even finger prints so be sure to wash
and handle with care. The penny will have the largest %
error (over %23) due to the change in materials used over
the years. The rest of your coinage should be between
%10-%15 error. The average weight of used currency...
P=2.637953, N=5.011551, D=2.278447 and Q=5.6792
Have Fun!
Erik N
- Grand Blanc, Michigan
March 7, 2006
As Erik mentioned, the composition of coins has changed
over the years.
Anyone interested in weighing PENNIES should be aware that
the composition of pennies changed in 1982. For dates of
1982 and earlier, pennies are 95% copper and 5% zinc and
weigh about 3.1 grams. For dates of 1982 and later, pennies
are 97.6% zinc, and 2.4% copper and weigh about 2.5 grams.
1982 was a transition year during which the U.S. mint issued
BOTH varieties of pennies.
You can easily verify the weight difference, even if you
don't have a scale. You can make your own balance beam using
a thin, rigid 12-inch ruler. Place a stack of five pennies
issued BEFORE 1982 precisely at the end of the 12-inch
ruler. Place a stack of five pennies issued AFTER 1982
precisely at the other end of the ruler. Holding both ends
of the ruler, place the ruler on the edge of a butter knife
(or some other thin flat object) so that the 6-inch mark is
lined up precisely with the edge of the knife. (You can
support the butter knife between two books so that the blade
stands upright.) When you release the ends of the ruler,
you'll see that the end with the pre-1982 pennies will go
down, and the end with the post-1982 pennies will go up.
That's exactly what you'd expect, since copper is more dense
than zinc.
There have been other variations in U.S. coin composition
(most notably, the change in composition of dimes and
quarters in 1965, replacing silver with copper and
nickel).
For more info, see the U.S. Mint website:
http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/mint_history/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=coin_composition
Ray S
- New York, New York
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More fun with science . .
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February 28, 2007
Yep, my scale's right! 5 grams! Thank you!
Lindsey S
- Kaufman, Texas
November 4, 2007
Thanks, Gregor Clark, you rock!
Mark T
- Montgomery, Alabama
 
December 9, 2007
All you guys rock. Thank you all for giving this serious
thought. Accuracy is essential. Peace.
Danielle H
- Eugene, Washington
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Don't
guess! Try a
precision scale at a great price . . .
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June 18, 2008
MR D - You seem like a smart guy with all those
measurements and stuff but how do you get 6.55 when you add
5.0 + .5 + .55. I'm pretty sure that every time I do that
it's going to come out to 6.05 :-)
Seth H
- Merrimac, Massachusetts
May 6, 2009
What is the volume of a nickel?
Walter W.
- Brook Park, Ohio
May 12, 2009
You can actually measure the diameter and thickness of a
nickel and calculate the volume, Walter. Or you can use
Archimedes' principle and measure the volume of water that
the nickel displaces. Or you can divide its 5.0 gram weight
by the density of nickel for a good approximation. Do it all
three ways and maybe you have an interesting science
project.
Regards, opt
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Ted Mooney
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey |
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Try more project ideas:
What cleans pennies
best?, How
does electroplating work?
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