WEBVTT - What is the Difference Between a Carat and a Karat?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from how stuff works dot com where

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<v Speaker 1>smart Happens. Hi. I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, what

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<v Speaker 1>is a carrot and what is the difference between a

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<v Speaker 1>carrot spelled with a C that's used with diamonds and

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<v Speaker 1>a carrot spelled with a K that's used with gold.

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<v Speaker 1>A carrot spelled with a C is a unit of

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<v Speaker 1>weight for diamonds and other gemstones. One carrot equals two

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<v Speaker 1>hundred milligrams, about a fifth of a gram. There are

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred fifty three grams in a pound, so if

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<v Speaker 1>you had a one pound diamond, it would be a

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand, two hundred sixty carrot diamond. A carrot, when

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<v Speaker 1>used with gold spelled with a K, is a unit

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<v Speaker 1>of purity. Four carrot Gold is pure gold, but usually

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<v Speaker 1>you mix gold with a metal like copper or silver

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<v Speaker 1>when you make jewelry because pure gold is too soft

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<v Speaker 1>and it's also really expensive. Each carrot indicates one four

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<v Speaker 1>of the whole. So if a piece of jewelry is

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<v Speaker 1>made of metal that is eighteen parts gold and six

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<v Speaker 1>parts copper, that's eighteen carrot gold. Where did such a

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<v Speaker 1>funny unit of purity come from? It turns out that

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<v Speaker 1>a German cold coin called a mark was common about

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<v Speaker 1>a thousand years ago. It happened away twenty four carrots

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<v Speaker 1>or four point eight grams. The purity of gold in

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<v Speaker 1>the coin was expressed in the number of carrots of

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<v Speaker 1>gold spelled with a C in this case present in

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<v Speaker 1>the twenty four carrot coin. So the two words carrot

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<v Speaker 1>and carrot are actually related through this process about a

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<v Speaker 1>thousand years old. Do you have any ideas or suggestions

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<v Speaker 1>for this podcast? If so, please send me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For more

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