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25-407: A ton is a unit of mass, force, volume, energy or power. Ton or TON may also refer to: Ton As a unit of mass , ton can mean: Its original use as a unit of volume has continued in the capacity of cargo ships and in units such as the freight ton and a number of other units, ranging from 35 to 100 cubic feet (0.99 to 2.83  m ) in size. Recent specialized uses include

50-403: A standard quantity used in assaying ores of precious metals. A short assay ton is approximately 29.17 g (1.029 oz) and a long assay ton is approximately 32.67 g (1.152 oz). These amounts bear the same ratio to a milligram as a short or long ton bears to a troy ounce . Therefore, the number of milligrams of a particular metal found in a sample weighing one assay ton gives

75-470: A ton of bees in this hive," "We have tons of homework," and "I love you a ton." The ton is derived from the tun , the term applied to a cask of the largest capacity. This could contain a volume between 175 and 213 imperial gallons (210 and 256  US gal ; 800 and 970  L ), which could weigh around 2,000 pounds (910  kg ) and occupy some 60 cubic feet (1.7  m ) of space. There are several similar units of mass or volume called

100-411: Is a conventional value, based on the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of coal. Plural name is tonnes of coal equivalent . The unit ton is used in refrigeration and air conditioning to measure the rate of heat absorption. Prior to the introduction of mechanical refrigeration, cooling was accomplished by delivering ice. Installing one ton of mechanical refrigeration capacity replaced

125-555: Is a conventional value, based on the amount of energy released by burning one tonne of crude oil. The unit is used, for example, by the International Energy Agency (IEA), for the reported world energy consumption as TPES in millions of toe (Mtoe). Other sources convert 1 toe into 1.28 tonne of coal equivalent (tce). 1 toe is also standardized as 7.33 barrel of oil equivalent (boe). A tonne of coal equivalent ( tce ), sometimes ton of coal equivalent ,

150-537: Is based on net tonnage , modified for Panama Canal billing purposes. PC/UMS is based on a mathematical formula to calculate a vessel's total volume; a PC/UMS net ton is equivalent to 100 cubic feet of capacity. The water ton is used chiefly in Great Britain, in statistics dealing with petroleum products, and is defined as 224 imperial gallons (35.96 cu ft; 1.018 m ), the volume occupied by 1 long ton (2,240 lb; 1,016 kg) of water under

175-595: Is used for church bells (formatted cwt–qr–lb). The long hundredweight is used as a measurement of vehicle weight in the Bailiwick of Guernsey . It was also previously used to indicate the maximum recommended carrying load of vans and trucks, such as the Ford Thames 5 and 7 cwt vans and the 8, 15, 30 and 60 cwt Canadian Military Pattern trucks . In Europe outside the British Isles, a centum or quintal

200-603: The short and long hundredweight and in British English as the cental and imperial hundredweight. Under both conventions, there are 20 hundredweight in a ton , producing a " short ton " of 2,000 pounds (907.2 kg) and a " long ton " of 2,240 pounds (1,016 kg). The hundredweight has had many values. In England in around 1300, different hundreds ( centum in Medieval Latin ) were defined . The Weights and Measures Act 1835 formally established

225-470: The ton : The difference between the short ton and the other common forms ("long" and "metric") is about 10%, while the metric and long tons differ by less than 2%. The metric tonne is usually distinguished by its spelling when written, but in the United States and United Kingdom, it is pronounced the same as ton, hence is often spoken as "metric ton" when it is necessary to make the distinction. In

250-532: The 15th century in England, the ton was 20 hundredweight, each of 108 lb, giving a ton of 2,160 pounds (980 kg). In the 19th century in different parts of Britain, definitions of 2,240, or 2,352, or 2,400 lb were used, with 2,000 lb for explosives; the legal ton was usually 2,240 lb. In the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other areas that had used the imperial system,

275-483: The United Kingdom the final "e" of "tonne" can also be pronounced ( / ˈ t ʌ n i / ). In Australia, it is pronounced / t ɒ n / . In Ireland and most members of the Commonwealth of Nations, a ton is defined as 2,240 pounds (1,016.04691 kg). In the United States and Canada, a ton is defined as 2,000 pounds (907.18474 kg). Assay ton (abbreviation 'AT') is not a unit of measurement but

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300-481: The United States into the United Kingdom. The short hundredweight is commonly used as a measurement in the United States in the sale of livestock and some cereal grains and oilseeds , paper , and concrete additives and on some commodities in futures exchanges . A few decades ago, commodities weighed in terms of long hundredweight included cattle, cattle fodder, fertilizers, coal, some industrial chemicals, other industrial materials, and so on. However, since

325-408: The amount of liquid iron or steel that is produced, particularly in the context of blast furnace production or specific consumption. A dry ton or dry tonne has the same mass value, but the material ( sludge , slurries, compost , and similar mixtures in which solid material is soaked with or suspended in water ) has been dried to a relatively low, consistent moisture level ( dry weight ). If

350-448: The amount of money to be charged in loading, unloading, or carrying different sorts of cargo. In general if a cargo is heavier than salt water, the actual weight is used. If it is lighter than salt water, e.g. feathers, freight is calculated in measurement tons of 40 cubic feet. Gross tonnage and net tonnage are volumetric measures of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship. The Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS)

375-399: The approximate volume occupied by one ton of seawater (the actual volume varies with salinity and temperature). It is slightly less than the 224 imperial gallons (1.018 m ) of the water ton (based on distilled water ). One measurement ton or freight ton is equal to 40 cubic feet (1.133 m ), but historically it has had several different definitions. It is used to determine

400-425: The conditions that define the imperial gallon . These are small calories (cal). The large or dietary calorie (Cal) is equal to one kilocalorie (kcal), and is gradually being replaced by the latter correct term. Early values for the explosive energy released by trinitrotoluene (TNT) ranged from 900 to 1100 calories per gram. In order to standardise the use of the term TNT as a unit of energy, an arbitrary value

425-516: The daily delivery of one ton of ice. The refrigeration ton is commonly abbreviated as RT . Long hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt ), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal , is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass . Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial systems. The two values are distinguished in American English as

450-622: The increasing usage of the metric system in most English-speaking countries, it is now used to a far lesser extent. Church bell ringers use the unit commonly, although church bell manufacturers are increasingly moving over to the metric system . Older blacksmiths' anvils are often stamped with a three-digit number indicating their total weight in hundredweight, quarter-hundredweight (28 lb (13 kg), abbreviated qr), and pounds. Thus, an anvil stamped "1.1.8" will weigh 148 lb (67 kg) (112 lb (51 kg) + 28 lb (13 kg) + 8 lb (3.6 kg)). The same three part scheme

475-458: The material is in its natural, wet state, it is called a wet ton or wet tonne . Both the UK definition of long ton and US definition of short ton have similar underlying bases. Each is equivalent to 20 hundredweight; however, they are long 51 kilograms (112 lb) or short hundredweight 45 kilograms (100 lb), respectively. Before the 20th century there were several definitions. Prior to

500-425: The number of troy ounces of metal contained in a ton of ore. In documents that predate 1960 the word ton is sometimes spelled tonne , but in more recent documents tonne refers exclusively to the metric ton . In nuclear power plants tHM and MTHM mean tonnes of heavy metals , and MTU means tonnes of uranium . In the steel industry, the abbreviation THM means 'tons/tonnes hot metal', which refers to

525-549: The present imperial hundredweight of 112 pounds (50.80 kg). The United States and Canada came to use the term "hundredweight" to refer to a unit of 100 pounds (45.36 kg). This measure was specifically banned from British use—upon risk of being sued for fraud —by the Weights and Measures Act 1824 ( 5 Geo. 4 . c. 74), but in 1879 the measure was legalised under the name "cental" in response to legislative pressure from British merchants importing wheat and tobacco from

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550-428: The ton as a means of truck classification . It can also be used as a unit of energy , or in refrigeration as a unit of power , sometimes called a ton of refrigeration . Because the ton (of any system of measuring weight) is usually the heaviest unit named in colloquial speech, its name also has figurative uses, singular and plural, informally meaning a large amount or quantity, or to a great degree, as in "There's

575-413: The tonne is the form of ton legal in trade. The displacement , essentially the weight, of a ship is traditionally expressed in long tons . To simplify measurement it is determined by measuring the volume , rather than weight, of water displaced, and calculating the weight from the volume and density. For practical purposes the displacement ton (DT) is a unit of volume, 35 cubic feet (0.9911 m ),

600-592: Was assigned based on 1,000 calories (1 kcal or 4.184  kJ ) per gram. Thus there is no longer a direct connection to the chemical TNT itself. It is now merely a unit of energy that happens to be expressed using words normally associated with mass (e.g., kilogram, tonne, pound). The definition applies for both spellings: ton of TNT and tonne of TNT . Measurements in tons of TNT have been used primarily to express nuclear weapon yields , though they have also been used since in seismology as well. A tonne of oil equivalent (toe), sometimes ton of oil equivalent ,

625-580: Was never defined in terms of British units. Instead, it was based on the kilogramme or former customary units. It is usually abbreviated q . It was 50 kg (110 lb) in Germany, 48.95 kg (108 lb) in France, 56 kg (123 lb) in Austria, etc. The unit was phased out or metricized after the introduction of the metric system in the 1790s, being occasionally retained in informal use up to

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