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Cash (unit)

society Maturity 11-13 Next article →

A cash is a special unit of weight. It comes from the history of China. People also call this unit a li. It is used to measure mass. Mass is how much matter is in an object. This helps people know how heavy things are.

Understanding weight is very important for trade. It helps people buy and sell goods fairly.

Measuring weight follows a specific way. One cash has a set amount of mass. In Hong Kong, there is a law for this. The law is called the Weights and Measures Ordinance. This law tells us exactly how much one cash weighs. It is about 3.73 grams. A gram is a very small unit of weight.

We know about this unit from the past. British explorers saw it being used long ago. They documented the terms cash and li. This happened in the 1830s. At that time, they were trading in China. They were in lands ruled by the Qing.

There are many names for this measurement. You might hear it called a candareen. You might also hear it called a catty. These are different names for the same unit. Each name refers to the same amount of weight. The use of these names can change by place.

This unit links to many other systems. It is part of Chinese units of measurement. It is also used in Hong Kong. These units help us compare different ways to measure. You can use them to convert weights. It shows how different lands measure things.

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