Short ton

Template:Short description Template:Infobox unit The short ton (abbreviation: tn<ref name=NIST44-C> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or st<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>), also known as the US ton,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a measurement unit equal to Template:Convert. It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton;<ref name=NIST44-C /> however, the term is ambiguous, the single word "ton" being variously used for short, long, and metric tons.

The various tons are defined as units of mass.<ref>Butcher, Crown and Gentry, NIST Special Publication 1038, The International System of Units (SI) – Conversion Factors for General Use, 2006</ref> They are sometimes used as units of weight, the force exerted by a mass at standard gravity (e.g., short ton-force). One short ton exerts a weight at one standard gravity of 2,000 pound-force (lbf).

United States

Template:Anchor In the United States, a short ton is usually known simply as a "ton",<ref name=NIST44-C/> without distinguishing it from the tonne (Template:Convert), known there as the "metric ton", or the long ton also known as the "imperial ton" (Template:Convert). There are, however, some U.S. applications where unspecified tons normally mean long tons (for example, naval ships)<ref name=BTS.GOV> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref> or metric tons (world grain production figures).Template:Fact

Both the long and short ton are defined as 20 hundredweights, but a hundredweight is Template:Convert in the US system (short or net hundredweight) and Template:Convert in the imperial system (long or gross hundredweight).<ref name=NIST44-C/>

A short ton–force is Template:Convert.

See also

• Tonnage, volume measurement used in maritime shipping, originally based on Template:Convert.