Energy Units
Energy is generally defined as the potential to do work or produce heat. This definition causes the SI unit for energy is the same as the unit of work – the joule (J). Joule is a derived unit of energy and it is named in honor of James Prescott Joule and his experiments on the mechanical equivalent of heat. In more fundamental terms, 1 joule is equal to:
1 J = 1 kg.m2/s2
Since energy is a fundamental physical quantity and it is used in various physical and engineering branches, there are many energy units in physics and engineering. These units are summarized in following points:
Examples of Energy of 1 Joule
One joule in everyday life and in science corresponds to approximately:
- The kinetic energy of an object with mass 1 kg moving at √2 ≈ 1.4 m/s.
- The kinetic energy of a 50 kg object (e.g. human) moving very slowly – approximately 0.72 km/h.
- The energy required to lift a medium-size apple (100 g) 1 meter vertically from the surface of the Earth.
- The heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of water by 0.24 °C.
- The heat required to evaporate of 0.00044 g of liquid water at 100°C.
- The amount of electricity required to light a 1 watt LED for 1 s.
- Is released by approximately 3.1⋅1010 fissions in a nuclear reactor.
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