Calorie (thermochemical) to Kilojoule

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Result

0.0042

kJ

Conversion rate: 1 cal = 0.0042 kJ

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: kilojoules = calorie (thermochemical) × 0.0042

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

Conversion Table

Calorie (thermochemical) Kilojoule
1 cal 0.0042 kJ
10 cal 0.0418 kJ
100 cal 0.4184 kJ
1000 cal 4.184 kJ
1000000 cal 4184 kJ

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.

Kilojoule (kJ)

The kilojoule, symbol kJ, equals 1,000 joules and is used for measuring larger quantities of energy. It was introduced to simplify calculations in nutrition, physics, and engineering, where joules alone would result in very large numbers. Kilojoules are commonly used to express the energy content of foods, fuel consumption, and industrial energy usage. The adoption of the kilojoule has standardized energy measurements across scientific disciplines and commercial applications, offering clarity and ease of use in both everyday and professional contexts.

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