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Energy (includes Work) Conversion Calculator
How to Convert Units of Energy
Conversions are performed by using a conversion factor. By knowing the conversion factor, converting between units can become a simple multiplication problem:
S * C = E
Where S is our starting value, C is our conversion factor, and E is our end converted result.
To simply convert from any unit into joules, for example, from 100 kilowat-hours, just multiply by the conversion value in the right column in the table below.
100 kW · h * 3600000 [ (J) / ( kW · h) ] = 360000000 J
To convert from J into units in the left column divide by the value in the right column or, multiply by the reciprocal, 1/x.
360000000 J / 3600000 [ (J) / ( kW · h) ] = 100 kW · h
To convert among any units in the left column, say from A to B, you can multiply by the factor for A to convert A into Joules then divide by the factor for B to convert out of Joules. Or, you can find the single factor you need by dividing the A factor by the B factor.
For example, to convert from kilowat-hours to British Thermal Units you would multiply by 3600000 then divide by 1055.056. Or, multiply by 3600000/1055.056 = 3412.141156488. So, to convert directly from kW · h to BTU you multiply by 3412.141156488.
| To Convert from Unit |
Unit Symbol |
and Convert to ( J ) |
Multiply by ( J / Unit ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| British thermal unit [IT] | BTUIT | joule | 1055.056 |
| British thermal unit [th] | BTUth | joule | 1054.35 |
| British thermal unit [mean] | BTUmean | joule | 1055.87 |
| British thermal unit [39°F] | BTU39°F | joule | 1059.67 |
| British thermal unit [59°F] | BTU59°F | joule | 1054.8 |
| British thermal unit [60°F] | BTU60°F | joule | 1054.68 |
| calorie [IT] | calIT | joule | 4.1868 |
| calorie [th] | calth | joule | 4.184 |
| calorie [mean] | calmean | joule | 4.19002 |
| calorie [15°C] | cal15°C | joule | 4.1858 |
| calorie [20°C] | cal20°C | joule | 4.1819 |
| electronvolt | eV | joule | 1.60218E-19 |
| erg | erg | joule | 0.0000001 |
| foot-poundal | ft·pdl | joule | 0.04214011 |
| foot-pound-force | ft·lbf | joule | 1.355818 |
| inch-pound-force | in·lbf | joule | 0.112984829 |
| joule | J | joule | 1 |
| megajoule | MJ | joule | 1000000 |
| kilocalorie [IT] | kcalIT | joule | 4186.8 |
| kilocalorie [th] | kcalth | joule | 4184 |
| kilocalorie [mean] | kcalmean | joule | 4190.02 |
| kilowatt-hour | kW·h | joule | 3600000 |
| quad (IT) | quad | joule | 1.05506E+18 |
| therm (EC) | therm | joule | 105506000 |
| therm (U.S.) | therm | joule | 105480400 |
| ton-of-coal-equivalent | TOC | joule | 29307600000 |
| ton-of-oil-equivalent | TOE | joule | 41868000000 |
| ton-of-TNT-equivalent | tTNT | joule | 4184000000 |
| watt-hour | W·h | joule | 3600 |
| watt-second | W·s | joule | 1 |
References/ Further Reading
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - The NIST Guide for the use of the International System of Units - Appendix B, subsections B.8 Factors for Units Listed Alphabetically and B.9 Factors for units listed by kind of quantity or field of science.
Lide, David R., Daniel (Editor-in-Chief). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 89th Edition New York, NY: CRC Press, p. 1-28, 2008.
Wikipedia contributors. "Conversion of units" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, last visited 26 Jun. 2011.
How Many? A dictionary of units of measurement at http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/