The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement
unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton,
[
] although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton.
The various tons are defined as units of mass.
[Butcher, Crown and Gentry, NIST Special Publication 1038, The International System of Units (SI) – Conversion Factors for General Use, 2006] They are sometimes used as units of
weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity.
Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...
, the
force
In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a ...
exerted by a mass at standard gravity (e.g., short ton-force). One short ton exerts a weight at one
standard gravity
The standard acceleration due to gravity (or standard acceleration of free fall), sometimes abbreviated as standard gravity, usually denoted by or , is the nominal gravitational acceleration of an object in a vacuum near the surface of the Earth. ...
of 2,000
pound-force (lbf).
United States
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, a short ton is usually known simply as a "ton",
[ without distinguishing it from the ]tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
(), known there as the "metric ton", or the long ton also known as the "imperial ton" (). There are, however, some U.S. applications where unspecified ''tons'' normally mean long tons (for example, naval ships)[
] or metric tons (world grain production figures).
Both the long and short ton are defined as 20 hundredweight
The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are disti ...
s, but a hundredweight is in the US system (short or net hundredweight) and in the imperial system (long or gross hundredweight).[
A short ton–force is .
]
See also
*Ton
Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean
* the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds
...
* Tonnage, volume measurement used in maritime shipping, originally based on .
References
{{United States Customary Units
Units of mass
Ton, short