Short ton

The short ton is a unit of mass 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 (tonne, 1,000 kilograms / 2,204.62262 pounds) or the long ton (2,240 pounds / 1,016.0469088 kilograms); 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, but a hundredweight is 100 pounds (45.359237 kg) in the U.S. system (short or net hundredweight) and 112 pounds (50.80234544 kg) in the Imperial system (long or gross hundredweight).^[1]

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

Prior to metrication, Canada followed the US practice in using the word "ton" to refer to the short ton, and "hundredweight" to mean the short hundredweight. Since metrication, the generic term 'ton' may cause confusion when used verbally as to whether the speaker means the short ton or the tonne (metric ton).^{[citation needed]}

In the UK, short tons are rarely used. The word "ton" is taken to refer to a long ton, and metric tons are distinguished by using the alternative "tonne" spelling.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Long ton, 2,240 lb (1,016.0469088 kg).
• Tonne, also known as a metric ton (t). 1,000 kg (2,204.6226218 lb).
• Tonnage, volume measurement used in maritime shipping. Originally based on 100 cubic feet (2.8316846592 m³).

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "NIST Handbook 44 Specifications, Tnology". April 26, 2006. http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm. Retrieved October 13, 2008. "20 hundredweights = 1 ton" 
2. ^ "Naval Architecture for All". United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics. http://ntl.bts.gov/DOCS/narmain/narmain.html. Retrieved October 13, 2008. . "Historically, a very important and standard cargo for European sailing vessels was wine, stored and shipped in casks called tuns. These tuns of wine, because of their uniform size and their universal demand, became a standard by which a ship's capacity could be measured. A tun of wine weighed approximately 2,240 pounds, and occupied nearly 60 cubic feet." (Gillmer, Thomas (1975). Modern Ship Design. United States Naval Institute.) "Today the ship designers standard of weight is the long ton which is equal to 2,240 pounds."