Short ton
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The short ton (S/T) 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 (1,020 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 (50.8 kg) (which is equal to 8 stone, 1 stone/6.35 kilograms) in the Imperial system (long or gross hundredweight)[1] and 100 pounds (45.4 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 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 (8,896.4432 N).
[edit] See also
- Metric tonne (M/T) (t)
- Long ton (L/T)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e "NIST Handbook 44 Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices, Appendix C: General Tables of Units of Measurement". United States National Institute of Standards and Technology. 2006-04-26. http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Publications/appxc.cfm. Retrieved on 2008-10-13. "20 hundredweights = 1 ton"
- ^ "Naval Architecture for All". United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics. unknown. http://ntl.bts.gov/DOCS/narmain/narmain.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-13. ""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 (ref.1)." Today the ship designers standard of weight is the long ton which is equal to 2,240 pounds. (quoting Gillmer, Thomas, Modern Ship Design, United States Naval Institute, 1975"
