Convert Pound (Troy) (lb t) to Dalton (Da) instantly.
About these units
Pound (Troy) (lb t)
The troy pound, equal to 12 troy ounces or 373.2417216 grams, is used almost exclusively in the precious metals trade. Unlike the avoirdupois pound used for everyday goods (16 ounces), the troy pound is optimized for precious materials such as gold, silver, and platinum. This system's origins trace back to medieval trade fairs in Troyes, France, a major commercial hub. Merchants needed a consistent unit to prevent fraud and facilitate international trading, especially for valuable metals. Today, although rarely encountered by the general public, the troy pound remains fundamental in metals pricing, refining, and numismatics. It provides continuity in a highly traditional economic sector where consistency over centuries is crucial.
Dalton (Da)
The Dalton is numerically identical to 1 atomic mass unit and is commonly used in biochemistry and molecular biology, especially for expressing the masses of proteins, peptides, and macromolecules. While "u" is often preferred in physics and chemistry, the Dalton became the standard in biological sciences because it fits neatly into descriptions of amino acids, nucleotides, and biomolecular complexes. For example, a typical protein may have a mass of 50 kilodaltons (kDa). The adoption of the Dalton helped unify communication across genomics, proteomics, and structural biology. As molecular biology expands into nanotechnology and synthetic biology, the Dalton remains a central unit for describing the building blocks of life.