This article is about the imperial ton and similar units. For the metric tonne, see Tonne. Note that these are small calories (cal). The dietary Calorie (Cal) is distinct and equal to one kilocalorie.
Early values for the explosive energy released by trinitrotoluene (TNT) ranged from 900 to 1100 calories per gram. In order to standardise the use of the term TNT as a unit of energy, an arbitrary value was assigned based on 1000 calories (1 kcal, 4.184 kilojoules) per gram. Thus there is no longer a direct connection to the chemical TNT itself. It is now merely a unit of energy that happens to be expressed using words normally associated with mass (e.g. kilogram, tonne, pound).[3] [4] The definition applies for both spellings: ton of TNT and tonne of TNT.
Measurements in tons of TNT have been used primarily to express nuclear weapon yields, though they have also been used since in seismology as well.
Ton of coal equivalent
- A ton of coal equivalent or tonne of coal equivalent (TCE), a conventional value of 7 Gcal (IT) = 29.3076 GJ.
Ton of oil equivalent
- A ton of oil equivalent or tonne of oil equivalent (TOE), a conventional value of 10 Gcal (IT) = 41.868 GJ ˜ 10.0067 ton of TNT. See also GTOE.
Refrigeration
The unit ton is used in refrigeration and air conditioning to measure heat absorption. Prior to the introduction of mechanical refrigeration, cooling was accomplished by delivering ice. Installing one ton of refrigeration replaced the daily delivery of one ton of ice.
- In North America, a standard ton of refrigeration is 12,000 BTU/h = 200 BTU/min ˜ 3.51685 kW. This is approximately the power required to melt one short ton (2,000 lb) of ice at 0 °C in 24 hours, thus representing the delivery of 1 ton of ice per day.
- A less common usage is the power required to cool 1 long ton of water by 1 °F every 10 minutes = 13,440 BTU/h ˜ 3,939 W.[5][6][7]
The refrigeration ton is abbreviated as RT providing scope for confusion with the register ton.
Truck classes
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When light-duty trucks were first produced, they were rated by their payload capacity in tons (e.g., 1/2-, 3/4- and 1-ton). The Ford F-150, Chevy/GMC 1500, and Dodge 1500 are a 1/2-ton. The Ford F-250, Chevy/GMC 2500, and Dodge 2500 are a 3/4-ton. The Ford F-350, Chevy/GMC 3500, and Dodge 3500 are a 1-ton. But throughout the years, the payload capacities have increased while the ton title has stayed the same. The current ton rating scheme is nothing more than just a generic truck name.
Miscellaneous tons
- Ton is also used informally to mean a large amount of something (material or not), for example, "We've been having a ton of good luck recently".
- In Britain, ton is colloquially used to refer to 100 of a given unit. Ton can thus refer to the speed of motor vehicles, namely to the speed of 100 miles per hour e.g. "Lee was doing a ton down the motorway", to money e.g. "How much did you pay for that?" "A ton" (£100), to 100 points in a game e.g. "Eric just threw a ton in our darts game" or to a hundred of pretty much anything else.
A ton is also equivalent to 100 runs in the game of cricket (more commonly known as a century).
See also
References
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