Might just be me, but imo I find it weird that canned goods come in 14.5 ounces instead of an even 16 ounces. Since that would just be a well rounded number and would be 1lb it just seems more rounded to me.
In: 4100
Your question depends on whether it’s measuring fluid ounces aka volume or ounces in weight. Fluid ounces measures size aka volume. 1 fl oz of water weighs 1 oz (although the US scale is off by 4%). If the package you mention describes oz, it depends on the weight if the contents. The measurement of cans in fl oz has been standardized for years with little change. The reason for the precise sizes comes down to optimizing the transport of the product.
There are formulas dedicated to optimizing the volume of a can to the amount of metal it takes to make that can. This lowers cost so that you can sell more of your product with less waste. In addition to this, you must also account for serving size. If you only use 6 oz, you only need 6oz and some products are used in the can, which means you need to optimize how the can opens. Cat food is very often eaten out of the can.
Also is considered is the fact that packaging like boxes, pallets, and trucks are standardized so certain sizes may fit more product than others. There’s a whole subset of math to this called circle packing.
Lastly, it’s much easier to display smaller numbers and much easier to calibrate to smaller numbers, so even though it might be better to make a package 14.47854743674574….fl oz, 14.5 is easier to do.
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