# Drams to Decigrams (dr to dg)

Source: https://www.unitconvertercalculator.com/weight/drams-to-decigrams/

**1 dr = 17.718451953125 dg**

One dram equals approximately 17.718 decigrams. The avoirdupois dram (about 1.772 grams) is just under 18 times heavier than a decigram (0.1 grams). Both units measure small masses in their respective systems, but neither is standard in modern practice. The dram served English spice traders; the decigram serves metric textbooks.

## Formula

Apply the conversion factor

## Conversion Table

| Drams (dr) | Decigrams (dg) |
|---|---|
| 0.25 dr | 4.4296129882813 dg |
| 0.5 dr | 8.8592259765625 dg |
| 1 dr | 17.718451953125 dg |
| 2 dr | 35.43690390625 dg |
| 5 dr | 88.592259765625 dg |
| 10 dr | 177.18451953125 dg |
| 16 dr | 283.49523125 dg |
| 25 dr | 442.96129882812 dg |
| 50 dr | 885.92259765625 dg |
| 100 dr | 1771.8451953125 dg |
| 256 dr | 4535.9237 dg |
| 500 dr | 8859.2259765625 dg |
| 1000 dr | 17718.451953125 dg |

## Units

### Dram (dr)

A dram (avoirdupois) is a unit of mass equal to 1/16 of an ounce or 1/256 of a pound (1.7718451953125 grams). Historically used in pharmacy and old cooking recipes.

### Decigram (dg)

A decigram is one tenth of a gram. A metric unit used in some educational and scientific contexts.

## Background

A dram of cinnamon (17.7 decigrams) is a generous pinch - enough to flavor a batch of cookies. Seventeen decigrams on a metric scale is 1.772 grams, a quantity that most modern cooks would measure in grams or teaspoons rather than either drams or decigrams. Both units have been bypassed by more practical alternatives.

## Good to Know

The dram's 16-to-an-ounce ratio reflects the medieval English fondness for base-16 division. Sixteen drams per ounce, 16 ounces per pound - this binary-friendly structure made halving and quartering easy at market stalls. The decigram, by contrast, follows base-10 logic where everything divides by powers of ten. The dram-decigram conversion is where medieval market arithmetic meets Enlightenment mathematics.

## FAQ

### How many decigrams are in one dram?

One avoirdupois dram equals approximately 17.718 decigrams. This comes from 1 dram = 1.7718 grams and 1 decigram = 0.1 grams.

### Which unit is more commonly encountered?

Neither is common, but the dram appears slightly more often - in American ammunition specifications, some cooking references, and historical texts. The decigram is essentially unused outside educational contexts.

### How does the dram relate to the ounce?

There are exactly 16 avoirdupois drams in one avoirdupois ounce. This makes the dram one-sixteenth of an ounce, or about 1.772 grams.

## Non-Frequently Asked Questions

### If I measured my cooking spices in decigrams instead of drams, would my food taste different?

Not at all. A dram of cumin and 17.7 decigrams of cumin are the same amount. Your taste buds do not care which unit system delivered the spice. The only thing that changes is how you describe the quantity to someone else - and neither 'a dram' nor '17.7 decigrams' would be understood by most modern cooks.

### Could a bar serve whisky by the decigram?

A whisky 'dram' (the informal drink measure, typically 25-70 ml) weighs roughly 250 to 700 decigrams. Ordering '350 decigrams of Lagavulin' would make the bartender reconsider their career choice. Bars and metric sub-units are not natural companions.

### Is 17.718 a number anyone has memorized?

It is extremely unlikely that anyone on Earth has memorized 17.718 as the decigrams-per-dram conversion factor. This number exists in databases and conversion tables, is calculated when needed, and forgotten immediately after. It is the type of fact that justifies why calculators and computers were invented.

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## See Also

- [Decigrams to Drams](https://www.unitconvertercalculator.com/weight/decigrams-to-drams/)