Kilocalorie to Electron Volt Converter

A kilocalorie (kcal), also called a food calorie or large calorie, is a unit of energy equal to 1,000 small calories or approximately 4,184 joules. It represents the energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius.

The kilocalorie was developed in the 19th century for measuring heat and energy, particularly in nutrition and metabolism studies. It became the standard unit for food energy content and metabolic energy measurements, though many countries have since adopted kilojoules for food labeling.

Kilocalories are widely used in nutrition and dietetics, particularly in the United States, for measuring food energy content and daily energy requirements. They're found on food labels, diet plans, exercise equipment, and in medical and fitness applications for energy balance calculations.

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.