Short ton

The short ton is a unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds (907.18474 kg) ^[1]. In the United States it is often called simply ton^[1] without distinguishing it from the metric ton (or tonne, 1,000 kilograms) or the long ton (2,240 pounds (1,016.0469088 kg)); rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S. applications for which unspecified tons normally means long tons (for example, Navy ships)^[2] or metric tons (world grain production figures).

Both the long and short ton are defined as 20 hundredweights^[1], but a hundredweight is 112 pounds (50.80234544 kg) (which is equal to 8 stone, 1 stone/6.35029318 kilograms) in the Imperial system (long or gross hundredweight)^[1] and 100 pounds (45.35923700 kg) in the U.S. system (short or net hundredweight)^[1].

The spelling tonne is from Gallic and French. The term applied to the barrel of the largest size. In Old English the spelling was tunne, "cask". A full cask about a metre (about 40 in) high could easily weigh a metric tonne, since the volume of the antiquated British wine cask tun is defined as 954 litres which for water (density = 1 g/cm³) amounts to as many kilograms. In the context of heraldry, the term 'tun' is also recognized—again meaning a very large barrel, such as a brewer might use. For example, tuns are part of the blazon of the brewer's guild of London, England.^{[citation needed]}

A short ton–force is 2,000 pounds-force (8,896.443230521 N).

See also

• Metric tonne
• Long ton

References