Convert Kilocalories to Attojoules

Convert Kilocalories (kcal) to Attojoules (aJ) instantly and accurately.

Kilocalories (kcal)
Attojoules (aJ)

Conversion Formula

aJ = kcal × 4.184000000e+21

About Kilocalories

A kilocalorie (kcal) - the food Calorie (capital C) on US and Canadian nutrition labels - is exactly 4,184 J. WHO recommends ~2,000-2,500 kcal/day for adults. Energy density of nutrients: fat 9 kcal/g, carbohydrate 4 kcal/g, protein 4 kcal/g, ethanol 7 kcal/g. Running at 10 km/h burns ~600-800 kcal/h. Standard free energy of ATP hydrolysis is approximately −7.3 kcal/mol (−30.5 kJ/mol). Pre-SI thermodynamic tables in the US and Japan use kcal/mol for reaction enthalpies. 1 kcal = 4,184 J = 4.184 kJ = 3.968 BTU = 1.163 Wh.

About Attojoules

An attojoule (aJ) is 10⁻¹⁸ J - the scale of individual X-ray photons and superconducting qubit circuits. A 1 keV X-ray photon carries 160 aJ; a visible green photon (~550 nm) carries ~0.36 aJ. Josephson junction energies in superconducting qubits are set in tens to hundreds of aJ to achieve quantum coherence at millikelvin temperatures. XRISM's cryogenic TES X-ray spectrometer resolves individual photon energies at the hundreds-of-aJ level with ~7 eV FWHM resolution. 1 aJ = 10⁻¹⁸ J = 6.242 eV.

Quick Reference Table

Kilocalories (kcal)Attojoules (aJ)
1 kcal4.184 × 1021 aJ
2 kcal8.368 × 1021 aJ
5 kcal2.092 × 1022 aJ
10 kcal4.184 × 1022 aJ
25 kcal1.046 × 1023 aJ
50 kcal2.092 × 1023 aJ
100 kcal4.184 × 1023 aJ

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