Dear All, I was intrigued to read the discussion about paper on the USMA discussion list so I visited Spicer's Paper at: http://www.spicers.com/geninfo/basicsize.htm where I found the following (I have placed two asterisks ** before and after ** my comments).
HOW TO FIND THE EQUIVALENT WEIGHT Formula: length X width of sheets X basic weight Divided by length X width of basic size Result is the Equivalent Weight Example: What is the weight of a 32 lb. ledger paper size 28 x 34? Solution: Filling in the know factors in the formula. The following equation is obtained -- 952 x 32 divided by 374, which equals 81.4, the equivalent weight. THUS 28 x 34 81 lbs. is equal to 17 x 22-32 lb. or one ream of the 32 lb. paper in size 28 xc 34 weighs 81 lbs. ** Why should I want to know the EQUIVALENT WEIGHT? To find the mass divided by area of the paper, I looked on the side of the pack and read 80 g/m^2 (the two was a superscript). ** HOW TO FIND THE WEIGHT OF A NUMBER OF SHEETS Formula: Weight of 1000 sheets x number of sheets divided by 1000 results in total weight, Example: What is the weight of 1475 sheets of 17 x 22-- 56M basis 28 lb. stock? Solution: Filling in the formula: 56M x 1475 divided by 1000 Equals 82.6 lbs. ** I looked at the side of the pack again and read that this was an A4 paper. To get from an A0 paper, which is 1 square metre, to an A4 requires 4 cuts, so each sheet of A4 is 1/16th of an A0. If the mass of an A0 is 80 grams (80�g/m2 remember), then the mass of an A4 is 5 grams (80/16 = 5 grams). What is the mass of 1000 A4 sheets? 1000 x 5 = 5000 grams or 5 kilograms What is the mass of 1475 A4 sheets? 1475 x 5 = 7375 grams or 7.375 kilograms ** HOW TO FIGURE BASIS WEIGHT When sheet size and ream weight are known Formula: Length x Width of Basic Sheet Size X Ream weight divided by length x width sheet size results in Basic Weight. Example: What is the basis weight of a ream of book paper sheets 23 x 29 weighing 56 lbs. per ream? Solution: 25 x 38 x 56 divided by 23 x 29 equals 53200 divided by 667 equals 80 lb. Basis Weight. ** To find the mass divided by area of the paper (again), I looked on the side of the pack and read 80 g/m^2 (the two was a superscript). ** ** Q Which set of calculations would I rather do? A Duh! How much does it cost the Spicer company to carry out these sorts of calculations every day? And how much does it cost them to correct the errors that they make every day? ** Cheers, Pat Naughtin LCAMS Geelong, Australia Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online newsletter, 'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by sending an email containing the words subscribe Metrication matters to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --
