Calorie (thermochemical) to Kilocalorie (kcal)

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Result

0.001

kcal

Conversion rate: 1 cal = 0.001 kcal

Showing up to 4 decimal

How it works

The converter uses exact SI-based factors (e.g., 1 foot = 0.3048 meters, 1 inch = 0.0254 meters).

Formula: kilocalorie (kcal)s = calorie (thermochemical) × 0.001

Results show between 0 and 8 decimal places and hide trailing zeros for readability.

Conversion Table

Calorie (thermochemical) Kilocalorie (kcal)
1 cal 0.001 kcal
10 cal 0.01 kcal
100 cal 0.1 kcal
1000 cal 1 kcal
1000000 cal 1000 kcal

History

Calorie (cal)

The calorie (cal) originated in the 19th century as a unit for quantifying heat energy. It was initially defined as the energy required to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius under standard atmospheric pressure. The calorie gained popularity in fields such as chemistry, physics, and nutrition. Despite not being an official SI unit, it remains prevalent on nutritional labels and in dietary contexts, particularly in the United States and Europe. Before the widespread adoption of the joule, the calorie played a significant role in standardizing energy measurements related to food and biological systems.

Kilocalorie (kcal)

The kilocalorie, symbolized as kcal, equals 1,000 calories and is often referred to as a “Calorie” with a capital C in food labeling. It measures the energy in food and human metabolism, helping dieticians, nutritionists, and consumers track intake. The kilocalorie became the standard unit of energy measurement as nutrition science linked energy measurement to diet. Most scientists now use joules, but kilocalories are still commonly used in reporting food energy.

Other Relevant Conversions

J → kJ J → cal J → kcal J → Wh J → kWh J → eV J → BTU kJ → J kJ → cal kJ → kcal kJ → Wh kJ → kWh kJ → eV kJ → BTU cal → J cal → kJ cal → kcal cal → Wh cal → kWh cal → eV cal → BTU kcal → J kcal → kJ kcal → cal kcal → Wh kcal → kWh kcal → eV kcal → BTU Wh → J Wh → kJ Wh → cal Wh → kcal Wh → kWh Wh → eV Wh → BTU kWh → J kWh → kJ kWh → cal kWh → kcal kWh → Wh kWh → eV kWh → BTU eV → J eV → kJ eV → cal eV → kcal eV → Wh eV → kWh eV → BTU BTU → J BTU → kJ BTU → cal BTU → kcal BTU → Wh BTU → kWh BTU → eV