Calorie

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This article is about the units of energy. For other uses, see Calorie (disambiguation).
The name calorie is used for two units of energy.

The small calorie or gram calorie (symbol: cal) is the approximate amount of energy
needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius at a pressure of
one atmosphere.[1]

The kilocalorie, also known as large calorie, kilogram calorie, food calorie, and
similar names (symbols: kcal, Cal or C)[2] is 1000 small calories.[1]

Although these units are part of the metric system, they have been superseded in
the International System of Units by the joule. One small calorie is approximately 4.2 joules (so
one large calorie is about 4.2 kilojoules). The factor used to convert calories to joules at a given
temperature is numerically equivalent to the specific heat capacity of water expressed in joules
per kelvin per gram or per kilogram. The precise conversion factor depends on the definition
adopted.
In spite of its non-official status, the large calorie is still widely used as a unit of food energy. The
small calorie is also often used for measurements in chemistry, although the amounts involved
are typically recorded in kilocalories.
The calorie was first defined by Nicolas Clment in 1824 as a unit of heat energy,[3] and entered
French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. The word comes from
Latin calor meaning "heat".

Contents
[hide]

1Definitions

2Usage
o

2.1Nutrition

2.2Chemistry

3See also

4References

Definitions[edit]
The energy needed to increase the temperature of a given mass of water by 1 C depends on the
atmospheric pressure and the starting temperature. Accordingly, several different precise
definitions of the calorie have been used.
The pressure is usually taken to be the standard atmospheric pressure (101.325 kPa). The
temperature increase can be expressed as one kelvin, which means the same as an increment of
one degree Celsius.

Name

Symb

Conversions

Notes

ol

4.184 J

the amount of
energy equal to
exactly 4.184
joules [4][5][6][7]

Thermochemicalca
lorie

calth

4 C calorie

cal4

4.204 J
0.003985 BTU 1.168106 kWh
2.6241019 eV

the amount of
energy required to
warm one gram of
air-free water from
3.5 to 4.5 C at
standard
atmospheric
pressure.

15 C calorie

cal15

4.1855 J
0.0039671 BTU 1.1626106 kWh
2.61241019 eV

the amount of
energy required to
warm one gram of
air-free water from
14.5 to 15.5 C at
standard
atmospheric
pressure.
Experimental values
of this calorie ranged
from 4.1852 J to
4.1858 J.
The CIPM in 1950
published a mean
experimental value
of 4.1855 J, noting
an uncertainty of
0.0005 J.[4]

20 C calorie

cal20

4.182 J
0.003964 BTU 1.162106 kWh
2.6101019 eV

the amount of
energy required to
warm one gram of
air-free water from
19.5 to 20.5 C at
standard
atmospheric
pressure.

Mean calorie

calmean

4.190 J
0.003971 BTU 1.164106 kWh
2.6151019 eV

0.003964 BTU 1.163106 kWh 2.61

11019 eV

100 of the amount of

energy required to
warm one gram of
air-free water from 0
to 100 C at standard
atmospheric
pressure.

InternationalSteam
tablecalorie (1929)

4.1868 J
0.0039683 BTU 1.1630106 kWh
2.61321019 eV

860 international
watt
hours = 18043 internati
onal joules exactly.
1

[note 1]

International
Steam Table
calorie (1956)

calIT

4.1868 J
0.0039683 BTU 1.1630106 kWh
2.61321019 eV

1.163 mWh =
4.1868 J exactly.
This definition was
adopted by the Fifth
International
Conference on
Properties of Steam
(London, July 1956).
[4]

1.

Jump up^ The figure depends on the conversion factor between international
joules and absolute (modern) joules. Using the mean international ohm and volt
(1.00049 , 1.00034 V[8]), the international joule is about 1.00019 J, using the US
international ohm and volt (1.000495 , 1.000330 V) it is about 1.000165 J,
giving 4.18684 J and 4.18674 J, respectively.
2. The two definitions most common in older literature appear to be the 15 C calorie and
the thermochemical calorie.

Usage[edit]
The calorie was first defined specifically to measure energy in the form of heat, especially in
experimental calorimetry.

Nutrition[edit]
In nutritional contexts, the kilojoule (kJ) is the SI unit of food energy, although the kilocalorie
is still in common use.[9] In these contexts, confusingly, the word calorie is very often used for
what is actually a kilocalorie of nutritional energy. Sometimes, in an attempt to avoid
confusion, it is written Calorie (with a capital "C") in an attempt to make the distinction,
although this is not universal, and is not widely understood.
In attempts to facilitate comparison, specific energy or energy density figures are often
quoted, for example "calories per serving" or "kilocalories per 100 g". Nutritional requirements
or intakes are often expressed in calories per day.

Chemistry[edit]
In other scientific contexts, the term calorie almost always refers to the small calorie. Even
though it is not an SI unit, it is still used in chemistry. For example, the energy released in
a chemical reaction per mole of reagent is occasionally expressed in kilocalories per mole.
[10]
Typically, this use was largely due to the ease with which it could be calculated in
laboratory reactions, especially in aqueous solution: a volume of reagent dissolved in water
forming a solution, with concentration expressed in moles per liter (1 liter weighing 1 kg), will
induce a temperature change in degrees Celsius in the total volume of water solvent, and
these quantities (volume, molar concentration and temperature change) can then be used to
calculate energy per mole. It is also occasionally used to specify energy quantities that relate
to reaction energy, such as enthalpy of formation and the size ofactivation barriers.[citation
needed]
However, its use is being superseded by the SI unit, the joule, and multiples thereof
such as the kilojoule.