Calorie
A calorie can be used to describe two separate units of measurement, either the thermochemical calorie or the nutritional calorie. Both are equal to a quantity of energy needed to raise the temperature of a certain amount of water by one degree Celsius.[1]
- A thermochemical calorie (small calorie) is equal to the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. Unit abbreviation cal.
- A nutritional calorie (food calorie, large calorie, kilogram calorie, or Calorie) is equal to the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. Unit abbreviation Cal.
The two definitions are very similar, and differ only in the amount of water that is changed. This makes the conversion simple:
- 1000 calories = 1 Calorie[2]
Unit Conversion
For Further Reading
References
- ↑ Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2015, Mar.5). Calorie Definitions [Online]. Available: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calorie
- ↑ Rapid Tables. (2015, Mar.5). Convert calories to Calories [Online]. Available: http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/energy/how-cal-to-kcal.htm