US ton (short ton) to Imperial ton (long ton)
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Conversion History
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Quick Reference Table (US ton (short ton) to Imperial ton (long ton))
| US ton (short ton) (ton) | Imperial ton (long ton) (ton) |
|---|---|
| 0.5 | 0.44642857142857142857 |
| 1 | 0.89285714285714285714 |
| 2 | 1.78571428571428571429 |
| 5 | 4.46428571428571428571 |
| 10 | 8.92857142857142857143 |
| 20 | 17.85714285714285714286 |
About US ton (short ton) (ton)
The US ton, also called the short ton, is a unit of mass equal to 2,000 pounds (approximately 907 kg). It is the standard large-mass unit in the United States for bulk materials such as coal, gravel, recycled metals, and agricultural commodities. The short ton is roughly 10% lighter than the metric tonne (1,000 kg) and about 12% lighter than the imperial long ton (1,016 kg). In practice, "ton" in American English almost always means the short ton. Cargo weight, construction materials, and HVAC capacity (where "ton" refers to cooling capacity derived from melting a short ton of ice per day) all use the short ton.
A pickup truck typically has a payload capacity of 0.5–1 short ton. A cord of firewood weighs roughly 2–2.5 short tons.
About Imperial ton (long ton) (ton)
The imperial ton, also called the long ton, is a unit of mass equal to 2,240 pounds (approximately 1,016 kg). It was the standard large-mass unit in the British Empire for bulk goods such as coal, grain, and shipping capacity. The long ton is still used in some UK industries (particularly shipping tonnage and historical contexts) but has largely been replaced by the metric tonne (1,000 kg) for commercial and scientific purposes. The difference between the long ton (1,016 kg), metric tonne (1,000 kg), and US short ton (907 kg) is roughly 10–12%, which matters in trade and engineering calculations.
A double-decker bus weighs about 8 long tons. A coal wagon in Victorian railways held about 10 long tons.
US ton (short ton) – Frequently Asked Questions
How many pounds are in a US (short) ton?
One US short ton equals exactly 2,000 pounds (approximately 907 kg). To convert short tons to kilograms, multiply by 907.185. To convert to metric tonnes, multiply by 0.907.
What does "ton" mean in air conditioning (HVAC)?
In HVAC, a "ton of refrigeration" is a unit of cooling power equal to the heat absorbed by melting one short ton (2,000 lbs) of ice in 24 hours — approximately 3.517 kilowatts or 12,000 BTU/hour. A 3-ton AC unit has 3 × 12,000 = 36,000 BTU/h of cooling capacity. This has nothing to do with the weight of the equipment.
How many tons of food does an average person eat in a lifetime?
An average person in a developed country eats roughly 2–2.5 lbs of food per day (about 1 short ton per year). Over a 75-year lifespan, that is approximately 75 short tons (68 metric tonnes) of food — enough to fill about three standard shipping containers. Broken down: roughly 8 tonnes of fruit and vegetables, 5 tonnes of meat, 6 tonnes of grain products, 8 tonnes of dairy, and the rest in fats, sugars, and beverages. The water required to produce that food is about 50,000 tonnes — 700 times the food weight itself.
Which industries in the US still use short tons?
Short tons remain standard in US coal mining and electricity generation, steel and ferrous scrap recycling, agricultural commodities (grain, fertiliser), and construction materials (gravel, asphalt). International trade documentation typically requires conversion to metric tonnes for global contracts.
What weighs exactly one short ton that you might encounter in daily life?
A Honda Civic (2024 base model) has a curb weight of almost exactly 2,000 lbs — one short ton. A standard pallet of bottled water (84 cases of 24 × 500 mL bottles) weighs about 2,000 lbs. A cubic yard of dry sand weighs roughly one short ton. A grand piano ranges from 700 to 1,200 lbs, so you need about two of them. A typical adult horse weighs 900–1,100 lbs, so two average horses together are close to one short ton.
Imperial ton (long ton) – Frequently Asked Questions
What was the heaviest single object ever weighed?
The revolving service structure at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B weighed approximately 2,423 long tons (2,462 metric tonnes) when it was moved on its rail system. In construction, the Troll A offshore gas platform (North Sea) had a concrete substructure weighing about 656,000 tonnes — the heaviest object ever moved by humanity. For natural objects, the heaviest single organism is the Pando aspen grove in Utah at an estimated 6,000 tonnes, though it is debatable whether a clonal colony counts as one "object."
Is the long ton still used?
The long ton persists in some specialist UK contexts — notably maritime shipping displacement (warship displacement is often quoted in long tons), some historical industrial records, and a few US sectors such as ferrous scrap metal trading. For most purposes, the metric tonne has replaced it in the UK.
How does the long ton compare to the metric tonne?
A long ton is 1,016.05 kg, which is about 1.6% heavier than a metric tonne (1,000 kg). For rough mental conversion, they are close enough that long ton ≈ metric tonne — but in bulk commodity contracts, the 16 kg difference per tonne adds up significantly at large volumes.
Why does the UK use a different ton than the US?
Both derived from the historical English ton of 2,240 lbs (based on 20 hundredweight of 112 lbs each). The US customary system later redefined the hundredweight as 100 lbs, producing a short ton of 2,000 lbs, while the UK retained the 112-lb hundredweight and the 2,240-lb long ton.
What is a deadweight ton?
Deadweight tonnage (DWT) is a shipping measure of how much weight a vessel can carry — cargo, fuel, crew, provisions, and water — expressed in metric tonnes or long tons depending on convention. A Panamax cargo ship typically has a deadweight of 50,000–80,000 metric tonnes. DWT is distinct from displacement tonnage (the weight of water displaced by the ship itself).