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calories to Gigajoules conversion

calories to Gigajoules conversion table

calories (cal)	Gigajoules (GJ)
0	0
1	4.184e-9
2	8.368e-9
3	1.2552e-8
4	1.6736e-8
5	2.092e-8
6	2.5104e-8
7	2.9288e-8
8	3.3472e-8
9	3.7656e-8
10	4.184e-8
20	8.368e-8
30	1.2552e-7
40	1.6736e-7
50	2.092e-7
60	2.5104e-7
70	2.9288e-7
80	3.3472e-7
90	3.7656e-7
100	4.184e-7
1000	0.000004184

How to convert calories to gigajoules?

Absolutely! Let's start with understanding the basics of energy conversion.

Conversion Factor

One calorie (small calorie, denoted as cal) is defined as the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

To convert calories to joules (the SI unit of energy):

1 calorie ≈ 4.184 joules

To convert calories to gigajoules (GJ), we first need to understand the relationship between joules and gigajoules:

1 GJ = 10^9 joules

Conversion Process

Here's the step-by-step process to convert 1 calorie to gigajoules:

1 calorie = 4.184 joules To find out how many gigajoules 1 calorie is equivalent to, divide by 10^9:

$1 \, \text{cal} \times \frac{4.184 \, \text{J}}{1 \, \text{cal}} \times \frac{1 \, \text{GJ}}{10^9 \, \text{J}} = 4.184 \times 10^{-9} \, \text{GJ}$

So:

1 calorie ≈ 4.184 x 10^-9 gigajoules (GJ)

Real-World Examples

To put this into perspective using more significant quantities of calories:

Food Item:

Average Candy Bar:
- Contains approximately 250,000 calories
- Energy in gigajoules:
$250,000 \, \text{cal} \times 4.184 \times 10^{-9} \, \frac{\text{GJ}}{\text{cal}} ≈ 1.046 \, \text{GJ}$

Daily Caloric Intake:

Average Daily Intake for an Adult:
- Roughly 2,000 calories per day
- Energy in gigajoules:
$2,000 \, \text{cal} \times 4.184 \times 10^{-9} \, \frac{\text{GJ}}{\text{cal}} ≈ 8.37 \times 10^{-6} \, \text{GJ}$

Larger Quantities:

Energy Consumption by a City:
- If a city's daily energy consumption is about 2 x 10^12 calories
- Energy in gigajoules:
$2 \times 10^{12} \, \text{cal} \times 4.184 \times 10^{-9} \, \frac{\text{GJ}}{\text{cal}} ≈ 8.368 \times 10^{3} \, \text{GJ}$

Fuel Information:

One Gallon of Gasoline:
- Approximately 31,000,000 calories
- Energy in gigajoules:
$31,000,000 \, \text{cal} \times 4.184 \times 10^{-9} \, \frac{\text{GJ}}{\text{cal}} ≈ 0.1297 \, \text{GJ}$

Summary

By converting 1 calorie to gigajoules:

1 calorie ≈ 4.184 x 10^-9 gigajoules

Understanding this conversion can provide a clearer perspective of energy content across various substances and activities in daily life.

See below section for step by step unit conversion with formulas and explanations. Please refer to the table below for a list of all the Gigajoules to other unit conversions.

What is calories?

Calories are a unit of measurement that represents the amount of energy your body gets from consuming food and drinks. In other words, they measure the energy content of what you eat.

Here's how it works:

Your body uses calories to function: To grow, repair tissues, and maintain basic bodily functions (like beating your heart or breathing), your body needs a certain amount of energy.
Food provides that energy: When you eat food, the carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in those foods are broken down into different forms of energy. This process is called metabolism.
Calories represent that energy: The total amount of energy from these processes is measured in calories (or kilocalories). One calorie is equal to 4.184 joules.

Think of it like this:

A car engine needs gasoline to run, and a certain amount of gasoline provides a specific amount of energy.
Similarly, your body "runs" on the energy provided by the foods you eat. The more calories in those foods, the more energy they provide for your bodily functions.

Here are some common examples of calorie sources:

1 banana: approximately 100-110 calories
1 apple: around 95 calories
1 cup of cooked rice: about 200-250 calories

When you consume a certain amount of calories, your body uses that energy to perform various functions. Excess calories can lead to weight gain if not balanced with physical activity or burned off through exercise.

Does this help clarify what calories are?

What is gigajoules?

A gigajoule (GJ) is a unit of energy, specifically a large unit of measurement for electrical and thermal energy.

One gigajoule is equal to one billion joules. To put that in perspective:

1 joule is the amount of energy required to lift an object weighing about 2 pounds up 3 feet.
1 megajoule (MJ) is equal to 1 million joules, which is a significant amount of energy but still relatively small compared to what we use on a daily basis.
1 gigajoule (GJ), on the other hand, is equivalent to:
- About 277.8 kilowatt-hours (kWh) or 0.2778 megawatt-hours (MWh).
- The energy produced by burning about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of gasoline.
- Enough electricity to power a typical household for about 24 hours.

Gigajoules are often used in the context of:

Energy production and consumption (e.g., electrical power plants, oil refineries)
Thermal energy storage (e.g., large-scale heat pumps, industrial processes)
Renewable energy sources (e.g., solar panels, wind turbines)

I hope that helps you understand gigajoules better!

Complete calories conversion table

Enter # of calories

Convert 1 cal to other units	Result
calories to Watt-seconds (cal to Ws)	4.184
calories to Watt-minutes (cal to Wm)	0.06973333333333
calories to Watt-hours (cal to Wh)	0.001162222222222
calories to Milliwatt-hours (cal to mWh)	1.1622222222222
calories to Kilowatt-hours (cal to kWh)	0.000001162222222222
calories to Megawatt-hours (cal to MWh)	1.1622222222222e-9
calories to Gigawatt-hours (cal to GWh)	1.1622222222222e-12
calories to Joules (cal to J)	4.184
calories to Kilojoules (cal to kJ)	0.004184
calories to Megajoules (cal to MJ)	0.000004184
calories to Gigajoules (cal to GJ)	4.184e-9
calories to Kilocalories (cal to kcal)	0.001

calories to Gigajoules conversion