Energy in calories - Math Central

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Question from Josephine, a student:

A soft drink manufacturer claims that a new diet soft drink is now "low Joule". The label indicates that the available energy per serving is 6300 J. What is the equivalent of this energy in calories? (1 Calorie=1000 cal)

My response:
To solve this problem, I first wrote down all of my known variables, but I did not know what to do afterwards. Should I convert? If so, how? Thanks.

Josephine,

You also need the conversion factor from joules to calories.How do you get this?

The traditional way is to look it up in a reference book like the Chemical Rubber Company's Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (the "Rubber Bible" to generations of science students.) Today, go to Google and type in 1 joule in calories and the number you want will appear. Google understands the difference between a calorie and a Calorie, by the way!

Of course, if you type in 6300 joules in Calories you get what you probably want, right off.

Good Hunting!
RD

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