The short ton is a unit of weight equal to . In the United States it is often called simply ton[ without distinguishing it from the metric ton (or tonne, 1,000 kilograms) or the long ton (); rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S. applications for which unspecified tons normally means long tons (for example, Navy ships)]
or metric tons (world grain production figures).
Both the long and short ton are defined as 20 hundredweights[, but a hundredweight is (which is equal to 8 stone, ) in the Imperial system (long or gross hundredweight)][ and in the U.S. system (short or net hundredweight)][.]
The spelling tonne is from Gallic and French. The term applied to the barrel of the largest size. In Old English the spelling was tunne, "cask". A full cask about a metre (about 40 in) high could easily weigh a metric tonne, since the volume of the antiquated British wine cask tun is defined as 954 litres which for water (density = 1 g/cm3) amounts to as many kilograms.
A short ton–force is .See also
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