Convert British Thermal Units to Megajoules

Convert British Thermal Units (BTU) to Megajoules (MJ) instantly and accurately.

Conversion Formula

MJ = BTU × 0.001055055853

About British Thermal Units

A British Thermal Unit (BTU) - the heat to raise 1 lb of water by 1°F - equals exactly 1,055.05585262 J. It dominates US HVAC: room air conditioners are rated in BTU/h (5,000-24,000 BTU/h = 1.5-7.0 kW); one ton of refrigeration is exactly 12,000 BTU/h. Natural gas is billed in therms (100,000 BTU) in the US. Higher heating values: natural gas ~1,020-1,050 BTU/ft³; No. 2 fuel oil ~138,700 BTU/US gal; propane ~91,500 BTU/US gal. 1 BTU = 1,055.06 J = 252.164 cal = 0.29307 Wh.

About Megajoules

A megajoule (MJ) is 10⁶ J - the scale of fuel combustion in vehicles and kinetic energy of road traffic. Energy content: 1 L diesel ~34.9 MJ; 1 L petrol ~32.2 MJ. A 1,500 kg car at 100 km/h has KE = ½ × 1,500 × 27.78² ≈ 0.579 MJ; at 200 km/h it carries 2.31 MJ - explaining crash severity's quadratic speed dependence. A 60 kWh EV battery stores 60 × 3.6 = 216 MJ. Detonation of 1 kg TNT releases 4.184 MJ. Adults at rest metabolise ~6-9 MJ/day. 1 MJ = 10⁶ J = 239.0 kcal = 0.27778 kWh = 947.8 BTU.

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