Calorie (cal)
The calorie is a unit of energy, used for chemistry, food science, and thermodynamics. Its symbol is cal.
cal
kWh
1 calorie equals
| Kilowatt-hours | 0.00000116222 kWh |
| Kilocalories | 0.001 kcal |
| Joules | 4.184 J |
| British Thermal Units | 0.00396567 BTU |
About the calorie
The calorie was defined by Nicolas Clement in 1824 as the heat needed to raise one gram of water by one degree Celsius. It predates the joule by decades.
In everyday use the calorie appears in chemistry, food science, and thermodynamics. As a point of reference: raising a liter of water by 1 degree C takes 1000 calories.