If you ask a question about how many cubic meters are in a ton, you should clarify what is meant. Perhaps it will be about natural gas, maybe it’s about oil, and maybe about the displacement of ships.
Etymology of the name
In each country, and what’s there, in each city there were units of measure. Length was measured by arshins, feet, yards, fathoms, and long distances - by miles or miles. Volumes were considered pints and circles, gallons and buckets, barrels and barrels. Units of weight, too, could not be counted: ounces, pounds, measures, pounds and so on. But with the increasing importance of trade, the standards of measures and weights had to be equalized. First, within one country, then standardization took place between individual countries, and the next stage was the universal standardization of units of measure. It happened by the end of the nineteenth century. And until the end of the eighteenth century, the question “how many cubic meters per ton” could not have arisen in principle, because there were no such units of measure. And the names themselves - a ton and a meter - appeared in France when the ideals of the bourgeois revolution triumphed.
The victors, by all means, were in a hurry to get rid of the remnants of the monarchy, which included, among other things, the names - months, days of the week, units of measure. New units have been given new names. "Ton" came from the French word tonne, which meant a slightly modified Latin word tunne - barrel. “Meter” had ancient Greek roots (from “measure” or “meter”). The question “how many cubic meters per ton” received the first correct answer in France in 1795.
Metric system
With the introduction of the system of new units, the common duodecimal measurement was abandoned, and the decimal was taken as the basis. The French have identified new standards for measuring length, weight and volume. Initially, the standard of length - “meter” - was defined as one forty-millionth Paris Meridian. Later measurements showed that the length of the earth’s meridian is in some parts different from the ideal forty thousand kilometers, but the meter has already taken its place as the standard of length. Derivatives of this length were obtained by adding Latin prefixes - micro-, milli-, centi-, deci-, kilo-. The weight standard was the mass of water in the cube with a rib size of one centimeter in the ideal state, as was believed. Melt water at normal atmospheric pressure. Given that this unit of weight was very small, new non-standard volumes of weight and mass were invented. So, a cube with an edge of one decimeter of the same water in perfect condition began to be called “liter” (again, the roots of this word are Old French).
And when the cube became a meter-long rib, we got a new unit of mass - the “ton”. That is, if you translate tons into cubic meters of water, you get one. But this is only in the case of a “perfect state" of water. Usually, any liquid is lighter when heated.
International system of units
This metric system, although originating in the late 18th century, was adopted in France by law only in 1837. Gradually, it began to gain popularity in international agreements, and finally entrenched in 1875, when the Metric Convention was approved by authorized representatives of seventeen world powers. One of these countries was the Russian Federation, but then not the Federation, but the Empire.
That was the reason that now in our country the measurements are not in pounds or buckets, and it is safe to say how many cubic meters per ton. After a series of transformations, this convention became the foundation of the formation of the International System of Units in 1960. In this system, a place was found for both the meter and the ton.
Different tons
But still the question “1 ton - how many cubic meters” is not at all trivial. Because besides the concept from the metric system, there are other definitions. For example, there are concepts such as the American (short) ton, which weighs just over nine hundred and seven kilograms. But the English (long) ton is sixteen with a kilo hook heavier than the metric. The same unit, only with the name "freight ton", measures the size of the freight. When it comes to heavy substances, its size is equal to the English ton, and light and bulk cargoes are measured in cubic meters. That is, the answer to the question "how many cubic meters per ton of freight" will be 1.12.
The displacement of ships is measured, again, in the same units. But the register tons that are used for this concept do not measure weight, but the volume of the room that the transported cargo can occupy. Therefore, the correct answer to the question “how many cubic meters per ton of freight” will be 2.83 cubic meters.