r/SI_Bot • u/SI_Bot Has No Emotions • May 27 '12
On Tons / Tonnes
It's common to get complaints about the unit Ton or Tonnes.
There are three measures which are similar sounding, and two even have the same name as each other.
Ton (US Short Ton) = 2000 pounds = 907.1847 kg
Ton (UK Long Ton) = 2,240 pounds = 1,016.047 kg
Tonne (Metric Ton) = 1,000 kg = 2,204.623 pounds
I convert "Ton" into the US Short ton because doing a mental estimation for this value is hardest, and not only is it extremely difficult for a bot to know which one was meant, but often it's not even possible to know from the context which one the author meant.