The long ton,[Dictionary.com - "a unit for measuring the displacement of a vessel, equal to a long ton of 2240 pounds (about 1016 kg) or 35 cu. ft. (1 cu. m) of seawater."] or British ton,
It is not to be confused with the short ton, a unit of weight equal to used in the United States, and Canada before metrication, also referred to simply as a "ton".
Unit definition
A long ton is defined as exactly 2,240 pounds. The long ton arises from the traditional British measurement system: A long ton is 20 long hundredweight (cwt), each of which is 8 stone Thus, a long ton is
Unit equivalences
A long ton, also called the
weight ton (W/T),
[ imperial ton, or displacement ton, is equal to:
]
-
exactly 12% more than the 2,000 pounds of the North American short ton, being 20 long hundredweight (112 lb) rather than 20 short hundredweight (100 lb)
-
the weight of
[ of salt water with a density of ][
]
Usage around the world
United Kingdom
To comply with the practices of the European Union, the British Imperial ton was explicitly excluded from use for trade by the United Kingdom's Weights and Measures Act of 1985.[ legislation.gov.uk: Weights and Measures Act 1985 Retrieved 17 January 2013.][A Dictionary of Weights, Measures, and Units, edited by Donald Fenna, Oxford University Press] The measure used since then is the tonne, equal to 1,000 kilograms.
If still used for measurement, then the word "ton" is taken to refer to an imperial or long ton.
United States
In the United States, the long ton is commonly used in measuring the displacement of and the shipping of commodities[ and bulk goods like iron ore and elemental sulfur.
]
International
The long ton was the unit prescribed for by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922; for example, were limited to a displacement of .
The long ton is traditionally used as the unit of weight in international contracts for many bulk goods and commodities.
See also
-
Short ton, equal to .
-
Ton
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Tonnage, volume measurement used in maritime shipping, originally based on .
-
Tonne, also known as a metric ton (t), equal to or 1 Mg.
