Ton

In metrology, the metric ton or megagram is a unit of measurement of mass in the metric system and currently of mass in the International System of Units (SI). which is equal to 1000 kg. Its symbol is t (lowercase, although other forms are also common, not recognized in the SI, such as "T" or "Tm"). Although it is not part of the SI, the The ton is accepted for use with SI units and prefixes by the International Committee for Weights and Measures, along with other units, such as the bar, liter, and day.

Etymology

The tonne of "tonnel", and this from the diminutive of Old French "tonne" ‘big barrel

The name established in the SI is "tonne", without further ado, although it is specified that this unit is called "metric ton" in English-speaking countries.

International System of Units

A ton is the third multiple of the kilogram and sixth of the gram. It is also technically called a megagram. It is occasionally abbreviated as "tn", but this is not an accepted form in SI or International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards.

Equivalences: One tonne or megagram is equal to:

Metric ton note

The tonne (Tm) was originally a unit of mass equivalent to the mass of one cubic meter of fresh water^{[citation needed]}, but actually it is simply a multiple of the kilogram. It is called this way because it is equivalent to the weight of a thousand liters of fresh water, so to convert metric tons to other types of ton, you must use the necessary converter depending on the type of ton to which it refers.

Derived Units

* The equivalent units column uses the short-scale, large-number nomenclature system currently used in English-speaking countries, example: 1 "billion" = 1,000 million = 1,000,000,000 (unlike in Spanish where 1 billion = 1,000,000 million = 1,000,000,000,000)

† Values in the short tons and long tons equivalency columns are rounded to five significant values. See Conversions for exact values.

ǂ Although, not standard, the symbol "kt" it is also used (instead of the standard symbol "kn") for knot, a unit of speed for aircraft and sea vessels and should not be confused with kiloton.

Alternate use

A metric ton unit (mtu) can mean 10 kg (approximately 22 lb) in metal trade (example: tungsten, manganese), particularly, in the US. Traditionally, it refers to the metric ton of ore that contains 1% (example: 10 kg) of metal. The following exception from a mining geology textbook describes its use in the particular case of tungsten:

"Tungsten concentrations are usually traded in units of metric ton (originally designating a ton of ore containing 1% WO₃, today used to measure amounts of WO_e in units of 10 kg One metric ton (mtu) of tungsten (W) contains 7.93 kilograms of tungsten" (Walter L Pohl, Economic Geology: Principles and Practices. English edition, 2011, p 183.)

In the case of uranium, MTU is sometimes used to mean "metric ton of uranium (1,000 kg)".

A giganton is the unit of mass often used by the coal mining industry to assess and define the size of a coal reserve.

Anglo-Saxon system of units

The tonne in the Anglo-Saxon system of units originally referred to the big cask with a capacity of 252 gallons, containing approximately 2016 pounds of water. Such a barrel is still called a tun in British English.^{[citation needed]}

In this avoirdupois system there are two different units of mass called ton:

• Short ton: equals 907,18474 kg, and in English it is called short ton, although in the usual use of the United States it is called ton (ton)and even abbrevia t. Their equivalences are:^{[chuckles]required]}
  • 14 000 000 grains
  • 512 000 dracmas avoirdupois
  • 32 000 ounces avoirdupois
  • 2 000 pounds avoirdupois
  • 80 rice
  • 20 fifths short
  • 4 short rooms.

• Long ton: it was widely used in the UK, but it was obsolete since the metric tonne was adopted. The long ton was equal to 1016,0469088 kg, and in English it is called long ton or weight ton. Their equivalences are:^{[chuckles]required]}
  • 15 680 000 grains
  • 573 400 dracmas avoirdupois
  • 35 840 ounces avoirdupois
  • 2 240 pounds avoirdupois
  • 160 stones
  • 20 fifths long
  • 4 long rooms.

Other tonnes

As a measure of weight, the Castilian ton was equivalent to 20 quintals, and the quintal to 100 Castilian pounds (that is, 46 kg), so the ton would be 920 kg. It stopped being used when the metric ton of 1000 kg was imposed (which represented big problems, given the small difference between one and the other).

In the Castilian nautical industry of the 16th century, the ton was a measure of capacity that was equivalent to 1,518 m³, or 1,518 liters.

In later Spanish navigation, the ton was a measure of capacity equal to eight cubic cubits of shoreline; that is, 1,583 m³, or 1583 L.

Today, the tonnage (or Moorsom ton) is still used in shipping to measure the capacity of a vessel, which is equivalent to 2.83 m³.^{[citation required ]}

Deadweight tonnage (dwt) measures the carrying capacity of a vessel that sails safely. Vessels of less than 1000 t of dead weight (actually mass, but they are usually used as synonyms) are called "small size" or "small size".