Convert kcal to cal

Please provide values below to convert kilocalorie (th) [kcal (th)] to calorie (th) [cal (th)], or vice versa.

From:		kilocalorie (th)
To:		calorie (th)

Kilocalorie

Definition: A kilocalorie (symbol: kcal or Cal) is a unit of energy defined based on the calorie and is equal to 1000 calories or 4.184 kilojoules. A calorie (small calorie) is defined as the amount of energy required to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one °C. Kilocalories are also referred to as large calories or food calories, and are sometimes referred to as Calories, which can be ambiguous, and mistaken for the small calorie.

History/origin: The kilocalorie shares its origin with the small calorie except that it is defined in terms of the kilogram rather than the gram. The term is based on the Latin "calor," meaning heat, and the calorie was first defined as a unit of heat energy in 1824 by Nicolas Clement. The kilocalorie however, was not introduced to the American public until 1887, by Wilbur Olin Atwater.

Current use: Although the kilocalorie is generally considered an obsolete unit, it is still widely used alongside the SI unit of kilojoule to measure food energy. In countries where SI has not been adopted, such as the US, kilocalories, typically referred to as simply "Calories," are still the preferred measurement of food energy. Kilocalories are also sometimes seen in chemistry.

The kilo prefix is based on the SI prefixes, but calories with prefixes beyond the multiple of kilo are not commonly used.

calorie

Definition: A calorie (symbol: cal) is a unit of energy defined as the amount of energy required to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one °C. This is referred to as the small calorie or the gram calorie, and is equal to 4.184 joules, the SI (International System of Units) unit of energy.

A large calorie (symbol: Cal), also known as a kilogram calorie (symbol: Cal), is technically a kilocalorie (symbol: kcal), the equivalent of 1000 small calories, but is also sometimes referred to as simply "Calorie." Large calories are usually used for labeling foods, and as such, is known as the food calorie.

History/origin: The term calorie comes from the Latin word "calor," which means heat. It was first defined as a unit of heat energy in 1824 by Nicolas Clement and appeared in French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. The large calorie was introduced to the American public later, in 1887, by Wilbur Olin Atwater.

Current use: Although the calorie can be used with SI, since the official adoption of SI in 1960, the calorie is considered obsolete. Despite this, the large calorie is still widely used as a unit of food energy, alongside, or in place of the SI unit of food energy, the kilojoule. The use of a capital "C" in Calorie is intended to denote the use of kilocalories rather than calories denoting a single calorie. This is not often understood however, resulting in some confusion when foods are only labeled as Calories rather than kilocalories.

Calories are also used within scientific contexts, such as chemistry. In these contexts, the term being referenced is most often the small calorie, though measurements are often reported in kilocalories.

Kilocalorie (th) to Calorie (th) Conversion Table

How to Convert Kilocalorie (th) to Calorie (th)

1 kcal (th) = 1000 cal (th)
1 cal (th) = 0.001 kcal (th)

Example: convert 15 kcal (th) to cal (th):
15 kcal (th) = 15 × 1000 cal (th) = 15000 cal (th)

Popular Energy Unit Conversions

Convert Kilocalorie (th) to Other Energy Units