Hundredweight

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Hundredweight (of lat. Centum "hundred") is an ancient unit of weight of usually 100 basis weight units (usually pounds , and later kg ). It corresponds to the quintal in the German south-western language area.

Ztr. Is the abbreviation for hundredweight, an old form is Ctr.

In Germany it is understood as the definition of the former German Customs Union from 1858, i.e. H. 100 pounds of 500 grams each. According to this understanding, one hundredweight is 50 kg.

In Switzerland and some other countries ( Italy , Russia , Poland , Slovakia , the Czech Republic , Ukraine , Hungary , Belarus , Estonia ), however, the (meter) hundredweight or the (new) French are still used unofficially and in some cases in official announcements Quintal (q) of 100 kg used.

In Austria , the hundredweight with the unit symbol q was introduced as a legal measure by the law of July 5, 1950 and was defined as 100 kilograms; it could be used as a legal measure until December 31, 1977. In Germany, however, the corresponding weight of 100 kg is called quintals . One can describe 100 kg = 1 dz (quintals) but also as a decitonne , or 1 dt for short.

The English hundredweight is also often translated to "hundredweight". It measures either 45.359237 kg ( short to 100  pounds , USA ) or 50.80234544 kg ( long to 112  pounds , UK ). The situation is similar with the Spanish quintal, which is still used in Latin America today and corresponds to 100 Castilian pounds (46 kg).

The smelting centner in smelters ranged from 114 to 118 pounds.

history

Before the German Customs Union, most German states had their own hundredweight of 100 pounds:

Some states such as Baden (1810), Hesse (1821) and Württemberg had already switched to 50 kg under Napoleonic influence.

  • 1 quintal (q) = 100 kg = 1 dz = 1 dt
  • 1 hundredweight (Ztr.) (Italy, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine) = 100 kg = 1 German
  • 1 hundredweight (Ztr.) (Germany) = 100 (new) pounds (500 grams each) = 50 kg
  • 1 quintals (dz) = 2 quintals = 100 kg = 1 dt

literature

  • Stefan Deschauer: The second arithmetic book by Adam Ries . Friedrich Vieweg and Son Publishing Company, Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 978-3-528-06412-9 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Hundreds  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Remarks

  1. ↑ On July 1, 1858, the customs weight became the general Prussian national weight, as in all other states of the Zollverein.