Grams to Pounds Converter

Convert grams to pounds using the exact 1959 definition — and see why a pound of gold weighs less than a pound of feathers.

Conversion table

Weight	In Pounds
3	0.01 lb
4	0.01 lb
5	0.01 lb
10	0.02 lb
15	0.03 lb
20	0.04 lb
25	0.06 lb
30	0.07 lb
40	0.09 lb
50	0.11 lb
60	0.13 lb
70	0.15 lb
75	0.17 lb
80	0.18 lb
90	0.2 lb

📊 Numbers Worth Memorising

1 lb (exact)453.59237 g
1 oz (1/16 lb)28.349523 g
1 kg2.2046 lb
1 troy pound (gold)373.24 g
1 stone (UK, 14 lb)6350.29 g
500 g ('metric pound')1.1023 lb

Where Rounding Actually Costs You

Everyday cooking: 450 g ≈ 1 lb is close enough. The 3.6 g you drop is under 1% and no recipe notices.
Postal shipping: carriers bill in whole ounces or pounds, so 453.6 g and 454 g can land in different price tiers. Round up, never down.
Precious metals: never use 453.59 g. Gold and silver trade in TROY pounds of 373.24 g and troy ounces of 31.103 g.
Supermarket maths: price per pound × 2.20462 gives you price per kilo. That is how you compare a US label with a European one.

Why 453.59237 Is Exact, Not Approximate

Most conversion factors are measurements rounded off. This one is not. On 1 July 1959, the standards bodies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa signed the International Yard and Pound Agreement, which defined the international avoirdupois pound as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms. That number has no error bar and no uncertainty — the pound is now defined in terms of the kilogram, so every digit after the decimal point is a matter of law rather than laboratory work. Before 1959 the American and British pounds differed in the seventh decimal place, which sounds trivial until you are certifying a shipment or calibrating a scale against a foreign standard.

Doing It in Your Head

To go from grams to pounds you divide by 453.59237, but nobody does that mentally. The practical shortcut is to divide by 454 and accept an error of nine parts per million, or to divide by 450 and know you are running about 0.8% high. Going the other way, a kilogram is 2.2046 pounds, so doubling and adding a tenth gets you within half a percent — 3 kg is roughly 6.6 lb, and the true answer is 6.614. Where those shortcuts break down is anywhere a threshold sits nearby: a parcel weight limit, a dosage band, a freight tier.

The Two Pounds Nobody Warns You About

Avoirdupois pound: 453.59237 g, split into 16 ounces of 28.3495 g. This is the pound in every shop, kitchen and post office.
Troy pound: 373.24172 g, split into 12 ounces of 31.1035 g. Used only for gold, silver, platinum and gemstones.
A troy pound is 18% LIGHTER than a normal pound, but a troy ounce is 10% HEAVIER than a normal ounce. Both facts are true at once because the two systems divide the pound differently.
Bullion is quoted per troy ounce. Confusing it with the 28.35 g ounce overstates a gold holding by about 10%.
Gemstones use a third unit entirely: the metric carat, fixed at exactly 0.2 g since 1907.
Pharmacies once used an apothecaries' pound identical to the troy pound. It was abolished in the UK in 1971.

Where This Conversion Turns Up

Cooking from an American recipe with a European scale: 1 lb of ground beef is 454 g, a 5 lb bag of flour is 2268 g.
Newborn weights, which the US and UK still quote in pounds and ounces: 7 lb 4 oz is 3289 g.
Gym plates: a 45 lb plate is 20.41 kg, which is why it does not match the 20 kg bumper plate next to it.
Shipping: USPS and UPS price in pounds and ounces, so a 500 g parcel bills as 1 lb 1.6 oz — rounded up to 2 lb by most tiers.
Comparing prices across borders: $4.99 per pound is $11.00 per kilo, and supermarkets rarely do that sum for you.
Luggage allowances: a 50 lb airline limit is 22.68 kg, not the 23 kg most European scales are set to.

Worked Examples

The arithmetic, step by step

A 5 lb bag of flour on a metric scale

Start from the pound side: 5 lb × 453.59237 = 2267.96 g
Round for the kitchen: 2268 g, or 2.27 kg
Check the shortcut: 5 × 450 = 2250 g, which is 18 g light — under 1%

5 lb = 2268 g = 2.27 kg

Turning 3289 g into pounds and ounces

3289 ÷ 453.59237 = 7.2509 lb
Keep the whole pounds: 7 lb. Multiply the remainder by 16: 0.2509 × 16 = 4.01
So the answer reads 7 lb 4 oz — the format a US hospital would use

3289 g = 7 lb 4 oz

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pounds is 500 grams?

500 g is 1.1023 pounds, or 1 lb 1.6 oz. It is a common source of confusion because in Germany and France 500 g is casually called a pound, but the real pound is 453.59 g — about 10% lighter.

Why does my kitchen scale show 453 g for one pound and not 454?

Because a pound is 453.59237 g and most kitchen scales round to whole grams, showing 454 when they round to nearest and 453 when they truncate. Both are within the scale's tolerance, which is typically ±1 g.

Is a pound the same in the US and the UK?

Yes, since 1959. Before the International Yard and Pound Agreement the American pound was 453.5924277 g and the British one was 453.59243 g. The difference was in the seventh decimal, but it mattered for scientific and legal standards, so both countries adopted the exact 453.59237 g value.

How many grams in half a pound?

226.796 g, normally rounded to 227 g. That is also the standard weight of a US stick of butter — which is why American recipes call for 'a stick' where European ones call for 225 g.

Why is a pound of gold lighter than a pound of feathers?

Gold is weighed in troy pounds of 373.24 g, while feathers are weighed in avoirdupois pounds of 453.59 g. So a troy pound really is 80 g lighter. The old riddle is usually told the other way round, and the usual answer is wrong.

How do I convert price per pound into price per kilo?

Multiply by 2.20462. A steak at $9.99 per pound costs $22.02 per kilo. Going the other way, divide by 2.20462, or multiply by 0.4536.

What is 1 kg in pounds and ounces?

2.2046 lb, which is 2 lb 3.27 oz. The 2.2 shortcut is accurate to two hundredths of a pound and is fine for anything that is not a legal weight.