Kilocalorie to Megajoule Converter
Energy · unit-converter
Convert Kilocalorie to Megajoule with fixed input and output units, a step-by-step formula line, and reference tables. Factors are joule-based; food energy uses thermochemical calories. The full Energy Converter also includes MMBtu, toe, thermal kWh, and MeV/GeV.
Calculator
From: Kilocalorie (kcal)
To: Megajoule (mj)
About Kilocalorie
The kilocalorie (kcal) is 1,000 calories in the nutrition sense—often labeled “Calorie” on food packaging. Here 1 kcal = 4,184 J (thermochemical calorie definition used in this tool).
About Megajoule
One megajoule is 1,000,000 J. It is common in fuel-content and engineering thermal calculations.
How to convert kilocalories to megajoules
1 kilocalorie is equal to 0.004184 megajoule when both are expressed in joule-equivalents:
1 kcal = (4,184 J ÷ 1,000,000 J) mj = 0.004184 mj
Each kilocalorie is defined as 4,184 J and each megajoule as 1,000,000 J in this tool, so one kcal equals 4,184 ÷ 1,000,000 mj = 0.004184 mj.
Let d(kcal) be the numeric amount in Kilocalorie (kcal), and d(mj) the amount in Megajoule (mj). Then:
d(mj) = d(kcal) × (4,184 / 1,000,000)
Equivalently, divide by how many kcal fit into one mj (joules per mj divided by joules per kcal):
d(mj) = d(kcal) ÷ 239.0057361376673
Or: megajoule = kilocalorie ÷ 239.0057361376673
Examples
Example #1: Convert 1 kcal to megajoule
1 kcal = 1 kcal × (4,184/1,000,000) mj = 0.004184 mj
1 kcal = 1 kcal ÷ 239.0057361376673 = 0.004184 mj
Example #2: Convert 10 kcal to megajoule
10 kcal = 10 kcal × (4,184/1,000,000) mj = 0.04184 mj
10 kcal = 10 kcal ÷ 239.0057361376673 = 0.04184 mj
Summary
To convert Kilocalorie to Megajoule, multiply the value in kcal by the ratio of joules per kcal divided by joules per mj. Equivalently: value_mj = value_kcal × (4184 / 1000000). Numerically, 1 kcal equals 0.004184 mj.
Relationship context
You are converting between food / nutrition energy (calories) (Kilocalories) and SI energy (joules) (Megajoules). All values are mapped through joules first. The numeric factor is 4.184000e-3.
Conversion tables
| Kilocalorie (kcal) | Megajoule (mj) |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 0.0004184 |
| 1 | 0.004184 |
| 2 | 0.008368 |
| 3 | 0.012552 |
| 4 | 0.016736 |
| 5 | 0.02092 |
| 6 | 0.025104 |
| 7 | 0.029288 |
| 8 | 0.033472 |
| 9 | 0.037656 |
| Kilocalorie (kcal) | Megajoule (mj) |
|---|---|
| 10 | 0.04184 |
| 20 | 0.08368 |
| 30 | 0.12552 |
| 40 | 0.16736 |
| 50 | 0.2092 |
| 60 | 0.25104 |
| 70 | 0.29288 |
| 80 | 0.33472 |
| 90 | 0.37656 |
| 100 | 0.4184 |