Continue the good work!

If it’s any consolation the chance of organic chemists moving to barrel-oil-equivalents for bond strengths is pretty low.

Here are some that I have collected in the last 12 months.

Atomic energy unit, barrel oil equivalent, bboe, billion electron volts, Board of Trade unit, BOE, BOT, brake horsepower-hour, British thermal unit, British thermal unit (16 °C), British thermal unit (4 °C), British thermal unit (international), British thermal unit (ISO), British thermal unit (IT), British thermal unit (mean), British thermal unit (thermal), British thermal unit (thermochemical), British thermal unit-39, British thermal unit-59, British thermal unit-60, British thermal unit-IT, British thermal unit-mean, British thermal unit-th, BThU, BThU-39, BThU-59, BThU-60, BThU-IT, BThU-mean, BThU-th, Btu, Btu-39, Btu-59, Btu-60, Btu-IT, Btu-mean, Btu-th, cal, cal-15, cal-20, cal-mean, calorie, Calorie, calorie (16 °C), calorie (20 °C), calorie (4 °C), calorie (diet kilocalorie), calorie (int.), calorie (IT) (International Steam Table), calorie (mean), calorie (thermochemical), calorie-15, Calorie-15, calorie-20, Calorie-20, calorie-IT, Calorie-IT, calorie-mean, Calorie-mean, calorie-th, Calorie-th, cal-th, Celsius heat unit, Celsius heat unit (int.), Celsius heat unit-IT, Celsius heat unit-mean, Celsius heat unit-th, centigrade heat unit, centigrade heat unit-mean, centigrade heat unit-th, Chu, Chu-IT, Chu-mean, Chu-th, coulomb volt, cubic centimetre atmospheres, cubic foot atmospheres, cubic metre atmospheres, double Rydberg, duty, dutys, dyne centimetres, E-h, electron mass energy equivalent, electron volt, equivalent volt, erg, eV, foot grains, foot pound, foot pound force, foot poundal, ft-lb, ft-lbf, ft-pdl, gigaelectronvolt, gram calorie, gram calorie-15, gram calorie-20, gram calorie-IT, gram calorie-mean, gram calories (mean), gram calorie-th, grand calorie, grand calorie-15, grand calorie-20, grand calorie-IT, grand calorie-mean, grand calorie-th, hartree, Hartree energy, horsepower hours, horsepower hours (metric), inch pound force, Kayser, kcal, kcal-15, kcal-20, kcal-mean, kcal-th, kgfm, kilocalorie, kilocalorie (16 °C), kilocalorie (4 °C), kilocalorie (int.), kilocalorie-15, kilocalorie-20, kilocalorie-IT, kilocalorie-mean, kilocalorie-th, kiloelectronvolt, kilogram calorie, kilogram calorie-15, kilogram calorie-20, kilogram calorie-IT, kilogram calorie-mean, kilogram calories (int.), kilogram calorie-th, kilogram force metre, kiloton TNT equivalent, kilowatt hour, kilowatt minute, kilowatt second, kWh, large calorie, large calorie-15, large calorie-20, large calorie-IT, large calorie (mean), large calorie-th, Latm, latm, litre atmosphere, major calorie, major calorie-15, major calorie-20, major calorie-IT, major calorie-mean, major calorie-th, megaelectronvolt, megaton TNT equivalent, megawatt hours, metric ton oil, metric ton TNT, metric ton coal, micri-erg, natural unit of energy, newton metre, petit calorie, petit calorie-15, petit calorie-20, petit calorie-IT, petit calorie-mean, petit calorie-th, Q unit, quad, quadrillion, Rydberg, small calorie, small calorie-15, small calorie-20, small calorie-IT, small calorie-mean, small calorie-th, therm, therm (EC), therm (EU), therm (UK), therm (US), thermie (16 °C), ton coal equivalent, ton oil equivalent, ton TNT equivalent, tonne coal equivalent, tonne oil equivalent, tonne TNT equivalent, watt hour, watt minute, and watt second.

Conversion factors needed for 199 names = 39 402

Notice all the different BTUs, BThU, btus, calories, Calories, Cals, and cals as these all have different values according to the temperature that the observations were made.

Also note the near impossibility of our politicians rationally discussing energy in the context of peak oil, peak energy, global warming, or climate change given the confusion and obfuscation possible with all of these units.

On the other hand, if we use joules for energy in all contexts, there is only one value and only one definition, and the only conversion is to decife on whether to use millijoules, joules, kilojoules, and so on.

Cheers,

Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia

Another thing to realize is that they’re essential for communication between disciplines. There is no end to the confusion that can be created by not using units, something a lot of engineers I work around are prone to do.

My pleasure, glad you found it useful.
The classes I’ve seen seem to vary about 50:50 on whether kcal or kJ are used. I think sometimes we forget that the units exist to serve us, not the other way around. I’m all for consistency but if there is a significant advantage in understanding to gained by using a slightly different metric, by all means go for it.

What’s interesting is that, in my current field, we talk about particle energies a lot, and I’ve finally become accustomed to using these units and see the utility in adapting the system to serve your needs. If someone walked up to me and started talking 8 femtojoule protons, I’d probably look at them as if they were from Mars….50 MeV, though, that’s alright.

Thanks for explaining this to me – our class just got into conformations this past week and I see now why expressing energies in kcal/mol is useful, now that I’m looking at a ring or chain and trying to figure out what the change in the Gibbs energy is from one conformer to another. Thanks James.

MSO