Metric Ton (t)

Metric (SI)Current unit

1,000 kilograms (about 2,204.6 lb), also spelled tonne. Used for cargo, grain and vehicle weights outside the US.

1 metric ton = 1,000 kilograms (exactly).

About the metric ton

Barrels gave the tonne its name. The word goes back to a Germanic root for a large cask, the tun, and a full tun could easily weigh around a tonne. In English this became ton; the spelling tonne has been used in France since 1842, where it replaced the older tonneau, and pre-metric French tonnes were 2,000 livres, about 979 kg. Once the metric system took hold, the tonne was fixed at 1,000 kilograms, which is the mass of roughly a cubic metre of water.

The unit is accepted for use with the SI, and its symbol is a lowercase t with no period. Because it sits close to the old English ton, the two get confused: the short ton used in the US is about 10 percent lighter than a tonne, while the long ton differs by less than 2 percent. NIST calls the unit the metric ton, and the spelling tonne is rare in the US. Very large quantities are stated in prefixed forms such as the megatonne, which equals a teragram. In explosives, a tonne of TNT is taken as about 4.2 gigajoules.

Sources: Wikipedia: Tonne; Wikipedia: Ton; NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8 (mass conversions)

Metric Ton conversion chart

1 metric ton expressed in every other weight & mass unit:

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