:short ton
{{Short description|Unit of mass}}
{{Infobox unit
| name = Short ton
| image = Wire Bridge - New Portland, Maine (4616505123).jpg
| caption = The Wire Bridge in New Portland, Maine, United States, with a 3-ton gross weight limit. The short ton is primarily used in the US.
| standard = United States customary units
| quantity = Mass
| extralabel = In base units
| extradata = {{convert|1.000|ST|lb|disp=out}}
| units1 = SI base units
| inunits1 = {{convert|1|ST|kg|sigfig=5|disp=out}}
| units2 = Metric tons
| inunits2 = {{convert|1|ST|t|sigfig=5|disp=out}}
| units3 = Long tons
| inunits3 = {{convert|1|ST|LT|sigfig=3|disp=out}}
}}
The short ton (abbreviation: tn
{{cite web
| url = https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2023/01/30/appc-23-HB44.pdf
| title = NIST Handbook 44 Specifications: Handbook 44 – 2023 Appendix C – General Tables of Units of Measurement
| page = C-7
| date = November 18, 2022
| access-date = May 9, 2023
| quote = 20 hundredweights = 1 ton
}} or st{{Cite web |title=What is a short ton vs long ton? – Sage-Answers |url=https://sage-answers.com/what-is-a-short-ton-vs-long-ton/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=sage-answers.com}}), also known as the US ton,{{Cite web |last=AME |date=2018-04-03 |title=Ton vs Tonne, what's the difference? Which one is heavier? |url=https://www.asseteng.com.au/blog/whats-difference-ton-tonne-one-heavier/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=Asset Management Engineers |language=en}} is a measurement unit equal to {{convert|2,000|lb|kg|2}}. It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton; 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.Butcher, Crown and Gentry, NIST Special Publication 1038, The International System of Units (SI) – Conversion Factors for General Use, 2006 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
{{anchor|United States}}
In the United States, a short ton is usually known simply as a "ton", without distinguishing it from the tonne ({{convert|1000|kg|lb|2|disp=or}}), known there as the "metric ton", or the long ton also known as the "imperial ton" ({{convert|2240|lb|kg|2|disp=or}}). There are, however, some U.S. applications where unspecified tons normally mean long tons (for example, naval ships)
{{cite web
| url = http://ntl.bts.gov/DOCS/narmain/narmain.html
| title = Naval Architecture for All
| publisher = United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics
| access-date = October 13, 2008
}}
or metric tons (world grain production figures).{{fact|date=February 2024}}
Both the long and short ton are defined as 20 hundredweights, but a hundredweight is {{convert|100|lb|kg|2}} in the US system (short or net hundredweight) and {{convert|112|lb|kg|2}} in the imperial system (long or gross hundredweight).
A short ton–force is {{convert|2000|lb-f|N|2|lk=on}}.
See also
- Tonnage, volume measurement used in maritime shipping, originally based on {{convert|100|cuft|5}}.