What's a carat?

Updated February 23, 2017 | Factmonster Staff

The Question:

In diamond measurement, what is a carat?

The Answer:

One carat is equal to 200 milligrams. It's a useful measurement for dealing with very small things. Originally it was defined as the weight of a carob seed.

This should not be confused with a caret, which is the ^ symbol, used to indicate an insertion.

You may be interested in other Miscellaneous Units of Measure and our Conversion Calculator.

-The Fact Monster

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