Things measured in pigs
A pig weighs about 50–350 kg, which makes it a usable informal unit — "three elephants" lands where a raw figure in kg does not. Every comparison below is computed from a sourced figure rather than an invented average.
Things measured in pigs
| Thing | Mass | In pigs |
|---|---|---|
| fire hydrant | 70–320 kg | 1.25 pig |
| American black bear | 40–280 kg | 1.08 pig |
| bull shark | 90–316 kg | 1.08 pig |
| hospital bed | 80–230 kg | 1.08 pig |
| llama | 110–200 kg | 1.08 pig |
| server rack | 60–220 kg | 1.08 pig |
| garage door | 50–260 kg | 1.00 pig |
| reindeer | 60–318 kg | 1.00 pig |
| refrigerator | 70–170 kg | 1.09 of these per pig |
| ostrich | 63–156 kg | 1.09 of these per pig |
| photocopier | 30–250 kg | 1.09 of these per pig |
| giant panda | 70–125 kg | 1.20 of these per pig |
| jaguar | 45–120 kg | 1.33 of these per pig |
| treadmill | 40–200 kg | 1.33 of these per pig |
| wild boar | 50–200 kg | 1.33 of these per pig |
| English mastiff | 54–113 kg | 1.33 of these per pig |
Why informal units work
Absolute figures fail because most people have no calibrated sense of a kilogram above about the weight of a shopping bag, or of a metre above their own height. A familiar object supplies that calibration by borrowing it from something already known — which is the same reason a scale bar on a map beats a stated ratio, and why "the size of Wales" persists in journalism despite being useless to anyone who has not been there.
The figure for one pig is itself a range rather than a constant — see its own page for the spread. These comparisons are for intuition, not measurement.
Common questions
- How much does a pig weigh?
- 50–350 kg
- Why compare things to pigs?
- Because most people have no calibrated sense of large absolute figures. A familiar object borrows intuition from something already known.
Related pages
- How much does a pig weigh? Full figure and range
- Measured in school buses 6,500–12,000 kg
- Measured in city buses 11,000–20,000 kg
- Measured in African elephants 2,200–10,400 kg
- Measured in Asian elephants 2,000–6,000 kg
- Measured in blue whales 50–190 t
- Measured in giraffes 700–1,930 kg
- Measured in cars 1,100–2,100 kg
- Measured in pianos 130–550 kg
- Measured in refrigerators 70–170 kg
- Measured in washing machines 55–115 kg
Sources
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place