What is long ton (UK)?
A long ton is a unit of mass historically used in the United Kingdom, equal to 2,240 pounds. It is used in shipping, naval architecture, and some industrial contexts in the UK.
Real-world uses
The long ton was historically used in British shipping, coal mining, and iron/steel trade. Naval vessel displacement is sometimes still quoted in long tons. It occasionally appears in older British engineering specifications and historical trade records.
History
The long ton of 2,240 pounds derives from the traditional English system of 20 hundredweight (each 112 lb). It was the standard British ton until metrication in the 1970s largely replaced it with the metric tonne in commerce.
Common mistakes
Confusing the long ton (2,240 lb / 1,016 kg) with the short ton (2,000 lb / 907 kg) or the metric tonne (2,205 lb / 1,000 kg). This 12% difference can cause major commercial discrepancies.
What is gram?
A gram is a metric unit of mass equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. It is widely used in cooking, food labelling, and the measurement of small quantities in science and pharmacy.
Real-world uses
Grams are used for food nutrition labelling, postal weight limits, cooking recipes (especially in baking where precision matters), and jewellery weights. Pharmacists measure drug dosages in grams and fractions thereof.
History
The gram was the original base unit of mass in the French metric system of 1795, defined as the mass of one cubic centimetre of water. It later became the base unit in the CGS system before the kilogram took precedence in SI.
Common mistakes
Confusing grams with grains (1 grain ≈ 0.065 g), a common error in pharmaceutical contexts. Also, mistaking "g" for "G" in digital contexts where G means giga.
When is this conversion used?
Converting between long ton (UK) and gram is common when working across metric and imperial systems, such as international trade, travel between countries with different measurement standards, or following instructions from a different region. Cooking recipes and food packaging often switch between grams and ounces, especially when adapting recipes from different culinary traditions.
Worked examples
1 long ton (UK) = 1,016,046.9088 gram
1 gram = 0.001 kilogram
How to convert long ton (UK) to gram
To convert long ton (UK) to gram, multiply the value by 1,016,046.9088.
To convert gram back to long ton (UK), multiply by 9.842065e-07.
Measurement standards
The kilogram is defined by fixing the Planck constant to exactly 6.62607015 × 10⁻³⁴ joule-seconds, as established at the 26th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 2018. This ended the last SI definition based on a physical artefact.
Did you know?
The International Prototype of the Kilogram, a platinum-iridium cylinder stored near Paris since 1889, was found to have drifted by about 50 micrograms relative to its copies over a century — roughly the mass of a fingerprint.
Quick reference: long ton (UK) to gram
| long ton (UK) | gram |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 101,604.69088 |
| 0.5 | 508,023.4544 |
| 1 | 1,016,046.9088 |
| 2 | 2,032,093.8176 |
| 5 | 5,080,234.544 |
| 10 | 10,160,469.088 |
| 25 | 25,401,172.72 |
| 50 | 50,802,345.44 |
| 100 | 101,604,690.88 |
| 250 | 254,011,727.19999999 |
| 500 | 508,023,454.39999998 |
| 1,000 | 1.016047e+09 |
Common values
| long ton (UK) | gram | |
|---|---|---|
| A paperclip | 0.00098421 long ton (UK) | 1,000 gram |
| A smartphone | 0.17223614 long ton (UK) | 175,000 gram |
| A bag of sugar | 0.00098421 long ton (UK) | 1,000 gram |
| Average adult human | 0.06889446 long ton (UK) | 70,000 gram |
| A small car | 1.18104783 long ton (UK) | 1,200,000 gram |