Convert Gigajoules to Ergs

Convert Gigajoules (GJ) to Ergs (erg) instantly and accurately.

Conversion Formula

erg = GJ × 1.000000000e+16

About Gigajoules

A gigajoule (GJ) is 10⁹ J - the scale of fossil-fuel commodity volumes. One barrel of crude oil contains ~5.80 GJ; one metric tonne of hard coal ~29.3 GJ. Canadian energy bills express household consumption in GJ: average Canadian households use ~100-130 GJ/year. A 1 GW power plant at 33% efficiency burns ~10.9 GJ/h of fuel to generate 1 GWh = 3.6 GJ of electricity. Detonation of 1 tonne of TNT releases 4.184 GJ. 1 GJ = 10⁹ J = 277.78 kWh = 947,817 BTU = 9.4782 therms.

About Ergs

An erg is the CGS unit of energy - the work done by one dyne through one centimetre - exactly 10⁻⁷ J. Despite SI adoption, the erg persists in astrophysics: the Sun's luminosity is 3.828 × 10³³ erg/s; gamma-ray burst isotropic energies are quoted in units of 10⁵¹ erg ('one foe'). Surface tension of water is 72.8 dyn/cm; the work to create 1 cm² of new water-air interface is 72.8 erg. Earthquake seismic moment M₀ is in dyn·cm = erg; the 2004 Boxing Day earthquake had M₀ ≈ 10²³ J = 10³⁰ erg. 1 erg = 10⁻⁷ J = 624.15 eV.

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