Weight

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

wat, the downward force, heaviness, or gravity of a body. It is due to the attraction between the earth and bodies on its surface. A stone pulls the earth toward it just as hard as the earth pulls the stone, but, if dropped from the hand, a stone will go to the earth, because the earth is so much heavier. Though the movement is imperceptible the earth really falls toward the stone as well. Weight should be distinguished carefully from mass. A cannon ball contains the same amount of material, that is to say, has the same mass wherever it may be; but it weighs most at the surface of the earth, or more strictly speaking, at the sea level, and loses weight perceptibly at high altitudes, and very rapidly indeed beneath the earth's surface. Half way to the earth's center it would only weigh about one-half as much. At the center of the earth, it would have no weight at all, yet the mass would remain the same. For measures of weight, see AVOIRDUPOIS; TROY WEIGHT ; METRIC SYSTEM ; POUND; TON, etc. Weight of the Human Body. As is well known, people differ in weight. Midgets are not uncommon. When Tom Thumb first called on Barnum, the showman, he weighed but fifteen pounds. Lambert of London, who was five feet eleven inches in height, weighed 704 pounds. Infants vary in weight quite as much as adults. A weight at birth of from six to ten pounds may be considered normal; boys as a rule weigh about a pound more than girls. Insurance experts have built up tables of averages based on the weight and height of many actual weighings and measurements. The standard table for men is that of Dr. George R. Shepherd, compiled in 1897. As people are weighed with their clothing and standing in their shoes, the actual weight may be found by subtracting about one eighteenth from the weights given in the table. To find the actual height, an inch and a quarter should be subtracted from the given height. The following is condensed from Dr. Shepherd's TABLE OF THE HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF MEN. Age. 20 30 40 50 60 5 ft. 0 in. 120 128 133 134 131 5 ft. 1 in. 122 129 134 136 134 5 ft. 2 in. 124 131 136 138 137 5 ft. 3 in. 127 134 139 141 140 5 ft. 4 in. 131 138 143 145 144 5 ft. 5 in. 134 141 146 149 148 5 ft. 6 in. 138 145 150 153 153 5 ft. 7 in. 142 150 155 158 158 5 ft. 8 in. 146 154 160 163 163 5 ft. 9 in. 150 159 165 167 168 5 ft.10 in. 154 164 170 172 174 5 ft.11 in. 159 169 175 177 180 6 ft. 0 in. 165 175 180 182 185 6 ft. 1 in. 170 181 186 188 189 6 ft. 2 in. 176 188 194 194 192 6 ft. 3 in. 181 195 203 201 A second table was prepared by Dr. F. S. Weisse for women. Dr. Shepard is of the opinion that exact figures may be had by subtracting one-eighteenth from the weight for clothing and by deducting an inch and one-half from the height, on account of high-heeled shoes. The following, then, is a condensed TABLE OF THE HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF WOMEN. Age. 20 30 40 50 60 4 ft. 11in. 113 117 122 128 126 5 ft. 0 in. 114 119 125 130 129 5 ft. 1 in. 116 121 128 133 132 5 ft. 2 in. 118 123 132 137 136 5 ft. 3 in. 122 127 135 141 140 5 ft. 4 in. 125 130 138 145 144 5 ft. 5 in. 128 135 143 149 148 5 ft. 6 in. 132 139 146 153 152 5 ft. 7 in. 135 143 150 157 155 5 ft. 8 in. 140 147 155 161 160 5 ft. 9 in. 144 151 159 166 165 5 ft. 10 in. 147 155 163 170 169 Avera'e weight 126 132 139 145 142 Some interesting deductions may be drawn from the tables. A young man weighs about seven pounds more than a woman of the same height and age. Short men grow stout faster than tall men. Fifty years is about the age of greatest weight for both men and women. After the age of twenty-five women increase in weight faster than men. In calculating risks, life insurance medical directors regard a weight of five per cent below normal as the best risk for persons about thirty years of age, but for ages below thirty a weight five or ten per cent above standard is considered an indication of sound health. A weight of twenty per cent above standard is considered stout. Overweight does not add to strength. It is considered a more serious menace to health and longevity than is underweight. Physicians claim that one should keep his weight within ten per cent of the standard. Many interesting facts relating to weight may be stated. The average child doubles in weight during the first twenty-two weeks of life. This rate of increase is not kept up. If it were a child would weigh several tons before the age of school arrived. So far as the makeup of the body is concerned a weight of 150 pounds is distributed about as follows: muscles and their appendages, eighty-one pounds; bones, twenty-two pounds; fat, eighteen pounds; skin, seven pounds; brain, three pounds; internal organs, twelve pounds; blood, seven pounds. As the body is about seven-eighths water it follows that the parts of the body named contain about 137 pounds of water by weight, or not far from seventeen gallons. Directors of athletics state that it is not unusual for an oarsman to lose eight pounds of weight in the twenty minutes required to row the annual race at Poughkepsie over a four mile course.