Average weight of a conventional teaspoon made of metal

Author: Mikael Häggström

This article has been peer reviewed. A permanent link to peer reviewed revision is located at [1]. A peer review statement (found here) has had its authenticity verified by the Volunteer Response Team as archived in the Wikimedia OTRS system at tickets #2012102310012296 and #2012102310012312 (accessible to users with an OTRS account).
This article was previously used as a reference in Wikipedia in the following article: Teaspoon. However, it has since been removed from Wikipedia.

Abstract

edit

To estimate the average weight of a conventional teaspoon made of metal, 19 teaspoons were weighted, and the results were used to estimate an average weight of approximately 25 grams (confidence interval: 22 to 28 grams).

Objective

edit

To estimate the average weight of a conventional teaspoon made of metal.

Method

edit

19 teaspoons were gathered. The inclusion criterion was to be considered to be a conventional teaspoon made of metal by both the provider and author of the study. Teaspoons with handles partially made of plastic were also accepted. Each teaspoon was weighted with a digital scale of the model “AWS-100 Digital Pocket Scale”. Specifics of individual teaspoons are given in table in the “results” section.

Results

edit
No. Image Engraved description Source Weight (grams)
1   (none) Walmart (high price class) 45.6 g
2   Amefa Stainless Steel Amazon.com 15.0 g
3   COOKS CLUB CHINA household in Grand Rapids 26.9 g
4   Royal Norfolk 18/0 Stainless China Family Dollar 26.5 g
5   Springtime STAINLESS JAPAN household in Grand Rapids 39.4 g
6   STAINLESS CHINA 23 Trueways, King Drive 19.7
7   STAINLESS CHINA Cottage Groove Food Mart 12.5 g
8   STAINLESS CHINA Family Dollar 28.2 g
9   STAINLESS CHINA Walmart (medium price class) 17.7 g
10   STAINLESS CHINA Walmart (low price class) 28.6 g
11   Stainless China Trueways, King Drive 24.2 g
12   STAINLESS CHINA STEEL Trueways, King Drive 21.6 g
13   STAINLESS STEEL Family Dollar 21.8 g
14   STAINLESS STEEL Family Dollar 24.1 g
15   STAINLESS STEEL JAPAN Victoria household in Grand Rapids 22.3 g
16   STAINLESS STEEL WB/W O.F.H. Trueways, King Drive 21.1 g
17   TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL STAINLESS Trueways, King Drive 32.0 g
18   WM.A.ROGERS STAINLESS Oneida Ltd. Trueways, King Drive 22.6 g
19   WMF CROMARGAN Amazon.com 24.2 g

The average weight and its confidence interval was calculated by entering the resultant values above in an OpenOffice spreadsheet, with teaspoon description being entered in column A, corresponding weights in column B, formulas for the calculation of averages and confidence intervals in column E, and their designations in column D. Column F displays the formulas used in column E for clarity:

 A  B
(weight)
 C  D  E  F
1 Walmart-spoon of high price class 45.6 Count of observations 19 =COUNT(B1:B100)
2 Amefa-spoon 15 Sample mean 24.95 =AVERAGE(B1:B100)
3 Cooks Club 26.9 Sample variance 38.19 =VAR(B2:B196)
4 Royal Norfolk 26.5 Estimate of standard error 1.42 =SQRT(E3/E1)
5 Springtime 39.4 Degrees of freedom 18 =E1-1
6 23 from Trueways 19.7 t value 2.1 =TINV(0.05,E5)
7 Spoon from Cottage Groove 12.5 Margin of error 2.98 =(E6*E4)
8 Broad-based, from Family Dollar 28.2 Margin of error % 12% =E7/E2
9 Walmart-spoon of medium price class 17.7 Lower limit of 95% confidence interval 21.97 =E2-E7
10 Walmart-spoon of low price class 28.6 Upper limit of 95% confidence interval 27.93 =E2+E7
11 Spoon with bolted plastic handle 24.2
12 Trueways-spoon with straight lines 21.6
13 Family Dollar-poon with straight lines 21.8
14 Not broad-based, from Family Dollar 24.1
15 Victoria 22.3
16 OHF 21.1
17 Taiwan 32
18 Rogers 22.6
19 WMF Cromargan 24.2

The spreadsheet gave the result that the sample mean was approximately 25 g, with a 95% confidence interval of approximately 22 g to 28 g.

Discussion

edit

Considering that a majority of the teaspoons were imported, the result can be considered to be fairly generalizable in a global perspective.

Conclusion

edit

A conventional teaspoon made of metal weighs, on average, approximately 25 grams (95% confidence interval: 22 to 28 grams).

Conflict of interest

edit

None declared by author.