As nouns the difference between kiloton and kilogram
is that kiloton is a measure of the strength of an explosion or a bomb based on how many thousand tons of TNT would be needed to produce the same energy while kilogram is in the International System of Units, the base unit of mass; conceived of as the mass of one liter of water, and now defined as the mass of a specific cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France. Symbol: kg.
kiloton
English
Noun
(
en noun)
A measure of the strength of an explosion or a bomb based on how many thousand tons of TNT would be needed to produce the same energy.
* That's a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead.
Related terms
* megaton
* gigaton
kilogram
English
Alternative forms
* kilogramme
Synonyms
* (l)
Noun
(
en noun)
In the International System of Units, the base unit of mass; conceived of as the mass of one liter of water, and now defined as the mass of a specific cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France. Symbol: kg
(proscribed) Hence, the unit of weight such that a one-kilogram mass is also a one-kilogram weight.
Usage notes
* (sense) The use of the kilogram as a unit of weight is somewhat imprecise, as weight can change while mass remains constant. The weight of a one-kilogram mass will depend on its location, because the pull of gravity varies from one place to another. It is therefore frequently proscribed, but is nonetheless in wide use (e.g., a person's weight in kilograms). (The same imprecision and proscription also occur with many other words pertaining to weight and mass, such as the verb weigh.)
