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How much 20-pound bond paper weighs

For average, reasonable people who lead full lives, the figure means nothing.

Dear Matthew: I have some plain whitepaper, and it says right on the box that it's “20-pound bond.” The package of paper does not weigh 20 pounds, so what does that label mean? — Milene, San Diego

For average, reasonable people who lead full lives, the figure means nothing. For people who don’t know when to leave well enough alone, it means that 500 24-by-36-inch sheets of this type of paper weigh 20 pounds under controlled conditions in which the temperature is 70 degrees and the humidity is 50 percent.

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Paper is classified according to a baroque system in which a ream is the standard count. For most papers, a ream equals 500 sheets. But for some it’s only 480. (End part one. Breathe deeply. Relax.)

(Begin part two.) After paper is manufactured and before it’s cut into the familiar 8 1/2-by-11-inch pages, it’s trimmed into “standard” oversized sheets. For most business papers, that’s 24-by-36 inches. But a “standard” oversize sheet could also be 17 inches by 22 inches, depending on the type of paper. So the poundage shown on the box is the weight of a ream of oversized sheets.

Assuming you still care, it should be clear that two 20-pound papers might not be comparable, depending on the size of the oversized sheet and the number of those sheets in a ream. Which means, in practical terms, that you still have to open the box, handle the paper, and make sure it’s the kind you want. Apparently the system’s logical to somebody

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Dear Matthew: I have some plain whitepaper, and it says right on the box that it's “20-pound bond.” The package of paper does not weigh 20 pounds, so what does that label mean? — Milene, San Diego

For average, reasonable people who lead full lives, the figure means nothing. For people who don’t know when to leave well enough alone, it means that 500 24-by-36-inch sheets of this type of paper weigh 20 pounds under controlled conditions in which the temperature is 70 degrees and the humidity is 50 percent.

Sponsored
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Paper is classified according to a baroque system in which a ream is the standard count. For most papers, a ream equals 500 sheets. But for some it’s only 480. (End part one. Breathe deeply. Relax.)

(Begin part two.) After paper is manufactured and before it’s cut into the familiar 8 1/2-by-11-inch pages, it’s trimmed into “standard” oversized sheets. For most business papers, that’s 24-by-36 inches. But a “standard” oversize sheet could also be 17 inches by 22 inches, depending on the type of paper. So the poundage shown on the box is the weight of a ream of oversized sheets.

Assuming you still care, it should be clear that two 20-pound papers might not be comparable, depending on the size of the oversized sheet and the number of those sheets in a ream. Which means, in practical terms, that you still have to open the box, handle the paper, and make sure it’s the kind you want. Apparently the system’s logical to somebody

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