Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation

Subscriber Login

Forgotten your password?



Units of Measure

Phil B. Fontanarosa

and Stacy Christiansen

The calorie is the unit of measure often used in chemistry and biochemistry for reporting heat energy. A value of 1 calorie is the amount of energy (heat) required to raise the temperature of 1 g of pure water by 1°C. The joule is the preferred SI unit for energy, and calories and kilocalories may be converted to joules (J) and kilojoules (kJ) by using the following formulas: 1 calorie = 4.186 J 1 kilocalorie = 4.186 kJJAMA and the Archives Journals prefer to report heat energy in calories or kilocalories.Formerly a distinction was made between this “small calorie” (with


Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.

