Ton is a term derived from barrel and that refers to a measure of mass in the International System of Units and the metric system, whose symbol is t. One ton is equivalent to a weight of 1,000 kilograms.
For example: “Elephants can weigh several tons”, “The bridge inaugurated yesterday has a resistance of one hundred tons”, “Don Ricardo is very happy: this season he managed to harvest a ton of soybeans”. As with all measures of mass, the usefulness of its use will be determined by the weight of the entity in question. Indicating the weight of a human being in tons does not make sense, since nobody reaches this unit. Therefore, his weight must be expressed in decimals (a man can weigh 80 kilograms or 0.08 tons).
On the other hand, with much heavier objects, the ton is more appropriate than the gram or kilogram. Suppose that a shipment of goods is sent from Argentina to Spain and the containers add up to a weight of 234 tons. If you wanted to express this weight in grams, you would have to refer to a very large number (234 million grams). It should be noted that the notion of ton can refer to other units of mass. In the avoirdupois system, one can speak in short ton (equivalent to 907.18474 kilograms) or long ton (equivalent to 1016.0469088 kilograms). For Spanish navigation, the ton was the measure of capacity equivalent to eight cubic cubits of coast or 189.11 liters. The term ton usually appears in press reports in relation to generally catastrophic or smuggling events, such as the discovery of tons of dead fish on the banks of a river or the seizure of tons of cocaine on the illegal property of drug traffickers. Animals weighing more than a ton Elephants This family of placental mammals is known throughout the world, thanks to the popularity of certain cartoon characters such as Dumbo, who present them to the little ones, although with different characteristics from those they actually have , and also for its unfortunate exploitation in circuses and zoos. They are extraordinary animals, which can exceed 10 tons and live more than 80 years. Apart from their immense size, they stand out for having great intelligence and a complex communication system.
Killer whales Killer whales also owe their popularity largely to exploitation, in this case in water parks, although there are people who simply watch them, without violating their freedom, as is the case of the well-known activist Roberto Bubas, who fight for the liberation of these incredible animals. Although the mental image that many people have of a killer whale is much larger than that of an elephant, its average weight is around 5.5 tons, about half that of the latter. If we take into account that the weight of a normal person does not reach a tenth of a ton, it is very difficult to understand that these colossi do not impose more resistance to abuse. Crocodiles Although the largest crocodile ever recorded weighed 1.7 tons and the next one did not reach half that weight, it is an animal especially feared by humans, given its immense mouth, its enormous strength and its hunting capacity. Crocodiles can live in slow-moving rivers or salty estuaries and are exceptional swimmers. Despite their ferocity, the young must go through great dangers to develop, and very few of each litter make it to adulthood.
