hundredweight
{{short description|Unit of weight or mass, with differing values}}
{{Infobox unit
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| standard = {{ubl|British imperial|United States customary}}
| quantity = mass
| symbol = cwt
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File:Hundredweight cwt weight restriction road sign Ilkley.jpg, Yorkshire]]
The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial systems. The two values are distinguished in American English as the short and long hundredweight and in British English as the cental and imperial hundredweight.
- The short hundredweight or cental of {{convert|100|lb|kg|lk=in|sigfig=4}} is defined in the United States customary system.{{cite web |title=Special Publication 811 (Guide to the SI) |website=NIST |date=3 December 2019 |url=https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811 |access-date=15 February 2020}}
- The long or imperial hundredweight of 8 stone or {{convert|112|lb|kg|lk=in|sigfig=4}} is defined in the British imperial system.{{UK-LEG|title=UK Units of Measurement Regulations 1995 |path=uksi/1995/1804/contents/made|asmade=yes}}, which reiterates for hundredweight the {{UK-LEG|title=Weights and Measures Act 1985|path=ukpga/1985/72/contents}}.
Under both conventions, there are 20 hundredweight in a ton, producing a "short ton" of 2,000 pounds (907.2 kg) and a "long ton" of 2,240 pounds (1,016 kg).
History
The hundredweight has had many values. In England in around 1300, different hundreds (centum in Medieval Latin) were defined. The Weights and Measures Act 1835 formally established the present imperial hundredweight of {{convert|112|lb|kg|lk=in|sigfig=4}}.
The United States and Canada came to use the term "hundredweight" to refer to a unit of {{convert|100|lb|kg|lk=in|sigfig=4}}. This measure was specifically banned from British use—upon risk of being sued for fraud—by the Weights and Measures Act 1824 (5 Geo. 4. c. 74), but in 1879 the measure was legalised under the name "cental" in response to legislative pressure from British merchants importing wheat and tobacco from the United States into the United Kingdom.{{cite book|chapter=Chapter VII |title=Men and measures: a history of weights and measures, ancient and modern|first= Edward |last=Nicholson|date= 1912|url=https://archive.org/details/menandmeasures00nichiala/ }}
Use
File:Road signs on Alderney.png, Bailiwick of Guernsey]]
The short hundredweight is commonly used as a measurement in the United States in the sale of livestock and some cereal grains{{cite web |first=William J. |last=Murphy |title=Tables for Weights and Measurement: Crops". University of Missouri Extension. |url=http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/crops/g04020.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070525150336/http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/crops/g04020.htm |archive-date=25 May 2007}} and oilseeds, paper, and concrete additives and on some commodities in futures exchanges.{{cite web
|url = http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/agricultural/grain-and-oilseed/rough-rice_contract_specifications.html
|title = Rough Rice Futures - Contract specifications
|work = Agricultural products
|publisher = CME Group
|access-date = 21 December 2010}}
A few decades ago,{{reltime|date=July 2022}} commodities weighed in terms of long hundredweight included cattle, cattle fodder, fertilizers, coal, some industrial chemicals, other industrial materials, and so on. However, since the increasing usage of the metric system in most English-speaking countries, it is now used to a far lesser extent. Church bell ringers use the unit commonly,{{cite web
|url = https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/help/conventions
|title = Dove Help: Conventions used
|work = Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers
|access-date = 21 December 2010}} although church bell manufacturers are increasingly moving over to the metric system {{Citation needed|reason=Previous ref given no longer exists and no supporting evidence can be found|date=March 2024}}.
Older blacksmiths' anvils are often stamped with a three-digit number indicating their total weight in hundredweight, quarter-hundredweight ({{convert|28|lb|abbr=on}}, abbreviated qr), and pounds. Thus, an anvil stamped "1.1.8" will weigh {{convert|148|lb|abbr=on}} ({{convert|112|lb|abbr=on}} + {{convert|28|lb|abbr=on}} + {{convert|8|lb|abbr=on}}).{{cite web
|url = http://www.anvilfire.com/article.php?bodyName=/FAQs/anvil-6.htm
|title = Anvils-6: Marked Weight of Anvils
|work = Getting Started in Blacksmithing
|access-date = 15 December 2014}}
The same three part scheme is used for church bells (formatted cwt–qr–lb).
The long hundredweight is used as a measurement of vehicle weight in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It was also previously used to indicate the maximum recommended carrying load of vans and trucks, such as the Ford Thames 5 and 7 cwt vans{{cite web |url=http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/W8sAAOSwu1VW69-G/s-l1600.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114093359/http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/W8sAAOSwu1VW69-G/s-l1600.jpg|access-date=2 June 2021|archive-date=2016-11-14|title=New Thames - 5 & 7 cwt Vans}} and the 8, 15, 30 and 60 cwt Canadian Military Pattern trucks.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mapleleafup.net/vehicles/softskin/15cwt.html|title=CMP 15 cwt Page|website=www.mapleleafup.net}}
Europe
{{Refimprove|section|date=May 2024}}
In Europe outside the British Isles, a centum or quintal was never defined in terms of British units. Instead, it was based on the kilogramme or former customary units. It is usually abbreviated q. It was {{convert|50|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} in Germany, {{convert|48.95|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} in France, {{convert|56|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} in Austria, etc. The unit was phased out or metricized after the introduction of the metric system in the 1790s, being occasionally retained in informal use up to the mid-20th century.{{cite web |title=Centa |url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/centa |website=Croatian Encyclopedia |access-date=8 February 2021 |language=hr}}
See also
- Avoirdupois system
- The short and long hundred of 100 and 120, respectively
- Hundred, the medieval unit of measure
- Glossary of British ordnance terms#cwt
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Imperial units}}
{{United States Customary Units}}
Category:Customary units of measurement in the United States