Electron Volt to Gigajoule Converter

An electron volt (eV) is a unit of energy equal to approximately 1.602 × 10⁻¹⁹ joules. It represents the kinetic energy gained by an electron when accelerated through an electric potential difference of one volt.

The electron volt was introduced in the early 20th century with the development of atomic and nuclear physics. It provided a convenient energy scale for atomic and subatomic processes, where joules would result in extremely small numbers with many decimal places.

Electron volts are extensively used in atomic physics, nuclear physics, particle physics, and materials science. They're standard for measuring atomic binding energies, photon energies, particle accelerator energies, and electronic band gaps in semiconductors.

A gigajoule (GJ) is a unit of energy equal to one billion joules (10⁹ J). It represents large amounts of energy, commonly used for measuring building energy consumption, industrial processes, and fuel energy content.

The gigajoule became important with the growth of energy-intensive industries and the need to measure energy consumption in large buildings and facilities. It provided a convenient scale for energy auditing, HVAC system sizing, and industrial energy management in the latter half of the 20th century.

Gigajoules are commonly used in building energy analysis, HVAC engineering, industrial energy management, and fuel energy content specifications. They're standard for measuring annual energy consumption of large buildings, industrial process energy requirements, and natural gas energy content.