100 Things That Weigh About 1 Kilogram (Visual Guide)

A kilogram is abstract until you can picture it. Here are everyday objects that weigh about 1 kg — useful for estimating weight without a scale.

In the kitchen

A one-litre bottle of water (exactly 1 kg by definition of the litre), a standard bag of sugar, a large loaf of bread, six medium apples, four large bananas, a pineapple, a 1 kg bag of flour.

Around the house

A hardback dictionary, a 13-inch laptop, a small cast-iron pan, a house cat kitten at 3 months, a litre of paint, a large candle.

Sports and gym

The smallest pair of dumbbells sold in most gyms, two footballs, four tennis-ball tubes, a bicycle water bottle when full.

Tech

A 13" MacBook Air (1.24 kg), two iPads, five smartphones, a DSLR body with a kit lens.

How the kilogram is defined now

Since 2019 the kilogram is defined by the Planck constant, not by the platinum-iridium cylinder in Paris. The physical prototype had drifted by about 50 micrograms over a century.

In other units

1 kg = 2.20462 lb = 35.274 oz = 1,000 g = 0.157 stone. A litre of water is 1 kg; a litre of milk is about 1.03 kg; a litre of oil is about 0.92 kg.

Sources & further reading

BIPM — The International System of Units (SI Brochure)
NIST — Guide for the Use of the International System of Units
WHO — Body weight & health guidance

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