Tons to Pounds Converter
Metric tonne 2,204.6 lb · US short ton 2,000 lb · UK long ton 2,240 lb.
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Three different tons are in use. Pick the one your figure means.
2,000, 2,204.6 or 2,240
The three tons are defined most clearly in pounds, and this is where the differences are easiest to see:
- US short ton — exactly 2,000 lb
- Metric tonne — 2,204.62 lb
- UK long ton — exactly 2,240 lb
1 short ton = 2,000 lb 1 long ton = 2,240 lb
The short and long tons were both defined in pounds; the tonne was defined in kilograms and converts to an untidy figure. That is why 2,204.6 looks so out of place next to the other two.
The ton, and which one
Three different units share the name, and they differ by up to 12 %:
- Metric tonne — 1,000 kg, or 2,204.6 lb. Spelled "tonne" to distinguish it.
- US short ton — 2,000 lb, which is 907.18 kg. What "ton" means in America.
- UK long ton — 2,240 lb, or 1,016.05 kg. The traditional British ton, still used in shipping.
On a freight invoice or a materials order, the difference between a short ton and a tonne is over ten per cent of the bill.
The pound
Exactly 0.45359237 kilograms since the International Yard and Pound Agreement of 1959, which stopped the British and American pounds from drifting apart.
The abbreviation lb comes from the Roman libra, which is also why the pound sign is £ and why # is called the pound sign in the United States.
The working, step by step
Every line updates with whatever you type above. The point is the method, which is the same for any pair of units in this family.
The same quantity, two different numbers
One physical amount, read off two scales. The tick marks do not line up, and the gap between them is the conversion factor made visible.
How much is that?
A number is easier to judge next to something familiar.
Your turn
Reading a method and being able to use it are different things. Answer within half a per cent and it counts as correct.
Score: 0 of 0
How to use this converter
- Type into either box. The other side updates as you go; there is no button to press.
- Swap the direction with the button between the boxes, carrying your value across.
- Set the decimals if the default is more or less precision than you need.
- Copy the answer with its unit, ready to paste.
- Use the shortcut buttons for the values that come up most often.
- Share the result. The address bar tracks what you type, so the link you copy opens on the same number.
Common uses and tips
Where mass conversions come up
- Cooking, where recipes give grams in most of the world and ounces in the United States.
- Body weight, in kilograms nearly everywhere, pounds in America, and stones and pounds in Britain and Ireland.
- Shipping and postage, priced by weight bands that differ between carriers and countries.
- Medicine, where doses are in milligrams or micrograms and often scaled by body weight in kilograms.
- Precious metals, which use the troy ounce rather than the ordinary one.
The trap: which ounce, and which ton
Two units on this page have more than one meaning.
Ounces. The everyday avoirdupois ounce is 28.3495 grams. The troy ounce, used for gold, silver and platinum, is 31.1035 grams — about 10 % heavier. A gold price quoted per ounce always means troy. Using the wrong one on a bullion calculation is a ten per cent error.
Tons. A metric tonne is 1,000 kg. A US short ton is 2,000 lb, or 907 kg. A UK long ton is 2,240 lb, or 1,016 kg. The spread between the smallest and largest is over 12 %, which on a freight invoice is real money.
Mass is not weight
Strictly, everything on this page measures mass — how much matter there is. Weight is the force gravity exerts on that mass, and is properly measured in newtons.
Your mass is the same on the Moon; your weight is about a sixth. In everyday use nobody makes the distinction, and bathroom scales, baggage counters and recipes all use the two words interchangeably. It only matters in physics.
Numbers worth carrying
- 1 kg = 2.20462 lb, and 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg exactly.
- 1 oz = 28.3495 g. For cooking, 28 is close enough.
- 16 ounces to the pound, 14 pounds to the stone.
- Weigh, do not measure, for baking. A cup of flour varies by up to 20 % depending how it was packed; 120 g is 120 g.
Values people look up most
Each one opens the converter with the number already in it.
- 0.25 t to lb
- 0.5 t to lb
- 1 t to lb
- 1.5 t to lb
- 2 t to lb
- 3 t to lb
- 5 t to lb
- 10 t to lb
- 20 t to lb
- 50 t to lb
- 100 t to lb
Quick reference
Using metric tonnes.
| Tonnes | Pounds |
|---|---|
| 0.5 t | 1,102.311311 lb |
| 1 t | 2,204.622622 lb |
| 2 t | 4,409.245244 lb |
| 5 t | 11,023.113109 lb |
| 10 t | 22,046.226218 lb |
| 20 t | 44,092.452437 lb |
| 100 t | 220,462.262185 lb |
Questions people ask
How many pounds in a ton?
2,000 for a US short ton, 2,240 for a UK long ton, 2,204.62 for a metric tonne.
Why is the long ton 2,240 lb?
It is 20 hundredweight of 112 lb each, from the old British system.
Which is biggest?
The UK long ton, then the metric tonne, then the US short ton.