Convert Ton (Assay) (UK) (AT (UK)) to Pound-force Square Second/Foot (lbf·s²/ft) instantly.
About these units
Ton (Assay) (UK) (AT (UK))
The UK assay ton, slightly different from the US version, is defined as 32.666 grams. Like its American counterpart, it was designed so that milligram-level assay results could be easily interpreted as ounces of metal per ton of ore. In British mining operations of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the UK assay ton streamlined economic decision-making by directly correlating lab-scale measurements with bulk extraction expectations. Although now historical, its existence illustrates how different countries tailored their measurement systems to local mining economics and metal markets.
Pound-force Square Second/Foot (lbf·s²/ft)
This unit is part of the British Gravitational System, where mass is defined from force rather than the other way around. It can be interpreted as an inertial mass unit, since applying 1 pound-force to it would produce an acceleration of 1 foot per second squared. Historically, before the SI system clarified the distinction between force and mass, engineering fields often used mixed systems where pounds could represent either force (lbf) or mass (lbm). The unit lbf·s²/ft was introduced to straighten out these ambiguities in dynamic calculations such as impact forces, mechanical oscillations, and safety load computations. Today, the unit survives mostly in engineering textbooks, legacy calculations, and historical documentation. It demonstrates how complex and inconsistent measurement systems once were, and why global scientific communities moved toward SI clarity.