Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 09:32:23 +1100 From: Peter Wilkins <wilkinsp_nospamnospamail.com.au> Subject: Re: 9-5 petrol mileage?
On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 15:03:54 GMT, Johannes H Andersen <johsnospamsssssssssssssssssssssssssssizefitter.com> wrote : >Tons is a metric unit, 1 Ton =3D 1000 Kg.=20 > >Oops, just found that there are US tons =3D 907.2 Kg and long tons =3D = 1016 Kg. > Yes, the original ton derived from the Roman occupation of Britain and was originally a wine measure (THAT's how I'd like to buy my wine, in tons!). It was 20 hundredweights which equals 2240 pounds. The Yanks couldn't handle the arithmetic so call a ton 2000 pounds (everyone else calls that the "short ton", but not the yanks) Then we got the metric ton, which by some fortuitous coincidence is pretty close to the original ton. In international trade, people should be very careful to specify which ton they mean - UK, US or metric. --=20 Regards, Peter Wilkins