SC - European teaspoons

[Decker, Terry D.]

The U.S. Bureau of Standards sets 1 Tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 4 drams avdp.
= .5 fl.oz. (U.S.) = 1/16 cup = approx. 15 ml.  Some older definitions give
1 teaspoon = 1 dram.  There is also a different measure of Tablespoon and
teaspoon for bartenders.

In Britian, the Tablespoon varied between 1/2 and 5/8 Imperial fl. oz. and
was often considered to be 1/10 of a teacup (5 Imp. fl. oz. or 1 Imperial
gill).  

With the introduction of the metric system the Tablespoon in Britian,
Canada, and New Zealand has been set at 15 ml, making it roughly equivalent
to the U.S. Tablespoon.  The teaspoon has been set to the medical teaspoon
of 5 ml, again making it roughly equivalent to the U.S. teaspoon.  Much of
this standardization occurred in the 1960's to provide a uniform set of
measures for NATO and SEATO.  Texts written before 1964 may not conform to
the standard measure.

The Australians, being a contrary bunch, set the Tablespoon equal to 20 ml
and the teaspoon equal to 5 ml, giving them 4 teaspoons to the Tablespoon.
Australian teaspoons are roughly equivalent to the U.S. teaspoon.

I say roughly equivalent, because the U.S. Tablespoon measure as defined
falls somewhere between 14.8 and 14.9 ml, although the actual measures
should hold 15 ml.

To confuse things further, the teaspoons which came with the tea set are
probably based on the traditional British teaspoon which measure 1/8
Imperial fl. oz. or a little over 3.5 ml.

As a quick check on various measures, let me recommend this site:

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/

Bear 

 
> Just to confuse the issue,  UK and Australian measurements 
> have 4 teaspoons
> equaling one Tablespoon, where US measuring sets only have three.
> 
> So is the UK/Australian teaspoon smaller than a US teaspoon, 
> or is it the
> tablespoons that are out?
> 
> Regards
> Melissa (from Australia).
>