称 (chēng) has two main uses: 'to weigh' on a scale, and 'to claim, to state' (a spoken assertion). For 'weigh', it's a concrete action on a scale, unlike 衡量 (héngliáng) which means to evaluate or weigh abstract factors. For 'claim', it's a neutral statement, less formal than 声称 (shēngchēng) 'to assert publicly' or 宣称 (xuānchēng) 'to declare formally'.