Definition:Avoirdupois/Ton
Definition
The ton is an avoirdupois unit of mass.
Conversion Factors
| \(\ds \) | \(\) | \(\ds 1\) | ton | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 20\) | hundredweight | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 80\) | quarters | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 160\) | stone | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(=\) | \(\ds 2240\) | pounds avoirdupois | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(\approx\) | \(\ds 1016\) | kilograms | |||||||||||
| \(\ds \) | \(\approx\) | \(\ds 1 \cdotp 016\) | tonnes |
Also known as
The ton can be referred to as a long ton, to distinguish it from the short ton of $2 \, 000$ pounds avoirdupois.
Linguistic Note on Ton
The word ton derives from the same source as the word tun or tunne, a cask holding $216$ gallons of wine.
The word ton is pronounced tun.
In colloquial language, the word ton is in common use as a rhetorical flourish for a weight too heavy to be easily managed, for example:
- This suitcase weighs a ton!
It is also motoring slang, at least in Britain, for $100$ miles per hour:
- Took the beamer up to a ton going up the M6 last night, good job there weren't no fuzz around.
The usage is commonly seen as doing the ton, meaning driving at $100$ miles per hour.
Linguistic Note on Avoirdupois
The word avoirdupois derives from the Norman French word whose literal translation is goods (that is property, or things owned) of weight.
The avoir part also means to have in modern French, and derives from the Latin habere.
It is pronounced something like av-wah-doo-pwah, although Francophones will be aware that there are further subtleties to this.
Sources
- 1951: B. Hague: An Introduction to Vector Analysis (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text I$: Definitions. Elements of Vector Algebra: $1$. Scalar and Vector Quantities
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $2240$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $2240$
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): avoirdupois
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): ton: 1. (long ton)
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): avoirdupois
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): ton: 1. (long ton)
- 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): ton