Before creating the 5 weights, The ancients had to create a 1 gram weight to measure out all their other weights.

So the ancients had a bunch of super fine sand which was made entirely of the same material, and every grain was its most basic material. They had 121 grams of this sand. They also had a tube which could hold exactly 121 grams of sand, no more, no less.

How do the ancients weigh out 1 gram of sand?

They can't know that they have 121g. what they do know is that they have a tube of sand. and they want to find out what 1/121 of the sand is.

If this is the case, then the previous comment by Bryan may be valid.

Posted by Hank on 2003-04-14 09:07:59