calories or Calories?

We all talk about calories (Calories) at some point or other...Mostly when it comes to food.  But what is a calorie?  Is there a difference between calorie and a Calorie?  How much energy does it take to lift a 8600lb (3900kg) 6ft into the air?  The answer will surprise you!!

Yes, there are two types of calories which are ofcourse related to each other.  There's 'calories' and then there's 'Calories'.  A calorie is the amount of energy needed to warm 1gm of water by 1degree Celcius (The official definition uses only Metric system). 

A Calorie (with a capital C) is the amount of energy needed to warm 1kg of water by 1 degree Celcius.  So, a Calorie is 1000 times bigger than a calorie.  The term we use for food is always Calorie.  So, if an apple has 80 Calories (even if they write a small 'c'). 

A device thats used to calculate how many Calories any particular food has is called a calorimeter.   A basic calorimeter consists of a thermometer attached to a metal container full of water suspended above a combustion chamber.  To calculate calories for a particular food, they just put the fixed amount of food in the combustion chamber and measure the heat it produces when it burns. Ofcourse there's a bit more to it than just burn the sample of food....eg:  to determine Calories in a chocolate, they have to first determine how much fat is in it and how many carbs are in it etc. 




I was reading an article online that said you need 26 Calories to lift a 8600lb (3900kg) SUV more than 6ft in air!!!  26 Calories is what you get from eating one Hershey's kisses!!!  that's a bit mind-boggling isn't it.  That doesnt mean you should eat a Hershey's kisses and go try to lift a car.

If calories and Calories are not enough, there is yet another term used in measuring energy.  its called a 'joule'.  It is equal to the energy expended (or work done) in applying a force of one newton through a distance of one meter.  While calories and Calories are used for food, joules is usually used to measure amount of effort requred to do a certain job like lifting a SUV.  1 calories = 4.18 joules.

So, next time you look at the food and see the number of calories (Calories), imagine what all you can do with that much energy if you dont need it to spend on our body functions etc.