Orders of magnitude (energy) - Definition and Overview

To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various energy levels between 10⁻³¹ joules and 10⁷⁰ joules.

See also: fuel value.

Energies below 1 J

• 1.602 × 10⁻³¹ J — 1 peV
• 3.0 × 10⁻³¹ J (1.8 peV) — average kinetic energy of a molecule at lowest temperature reached (the lowest energy level attained)

• 1.5 × 10⁻²³ J (0.093 meV) — Average kinetic energy of a molecule at the coldest place known (temperature 1 K)

• 1.602 × 10⁻²² J — 1 meV

• 4.37 × 10⁻²¹ J (0.0273 eV) — Average kinetic energy of a molecule at room temperature

• 1.602 × 10⁻¹⁹ J — 1 electron volt (eV)
• 1.602 × 10⁻¹⁹ J — Average kinetic energy of a molecule at 11300 °C
• 2.7–5.2 × 10⁻¹⁹ J — Range of energy of photons of visible light

• 5.0 × 10⁻¹⁸ — 50 eV — upper bound of the mass-energy of a neutrino

• 5.0 × 10⁻¹⁴ — 500,000 eV — Upper bound of mass-energy of Muon neutrino
• 5.1 × 10⁻¹⁴ — 510,000 eV — mass-energy of electron

• 10⁻¹³ — 1,000,000 eV — 1 MeV — 1.602 × 10⁻¹³ J

• 1.5 × 10⁻¹⁰ J (940 MeV) — mass-energy of a proton
• 1.602 × 10⁻¹⁰ J — 1000 MeV

• 8 × 10⁻⁹ J (50 GeV) — Initial operating energy per beam of the CERN Large Electron Positron collider (1983).

• 1.3 × 10⁻⁸ J (80.411 GeV) — mass-energy of a W Boson
• 4.3 × 10⁻⁸ J (270 GeV) — Operating energy per beam of the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator reached in 1981.

• 10⁻⁷ J — 1 erg
• 1.602 × 10⁻⁷ J — 1 TeV

• 1.602 × 10⁻⁴ J — 1000 TeV
• 2 × 10⁻⁴ J (1250 TeV) — Expected ion collision energy level of the Large Hadron Collider being built at CERN (2005).

Energies between 1 J and 1 E15 J

• 1 J — The energy required to lift a small apple (102 g) one metre
• 1 joule is equal to:
  • 0.000 000 278 kilowatt-hour
  • 0.000 239 calorie (food)
  • 0.000 948 British thermal units
  • 0.239 calorie (these small calories are hardly ever used any more)
  • 0.738 foot-pound force
  • 1 W·s (watt second)
  • 1 N·m (newton metre)
  • 23.7 foot-poundals
  • 10,000,000 ergs
• 4.184 J — 1 thermochemical calorie (small calorie, exact)
• 4.1868 J — 1 International Table calorie (small calorie, exact)

• 1,000 J — Energy stored in a typical photography studio strobe unit
• 1,055 J — 1 British thermal unit
• 1,360 J — energy received from the Sun at the Earth's orbit by one square metre in one second
• 3,600 J — 0.001 kWh
• 4,184 J — energy released by explosion of one gram of TNT
• 4,186 J — 1 kcal or food calorie
• 1.7 × 10⁴ J, or 4 dietary calories — energy released by metabolism of one gram of sugar or protein
• 3.8 × 10⁴ J, or 9 dietary calories — energy released by metabolism of one gram of fat
• 44,742 J — a power of one horsepower applied for one minute
• 5.0 × 10⁴ J — energy released by combustion of one gram of gasoline
• 60,000 J — a power of one kilowatt applied for one minute
• 200,000–500,000 J — the kinetic energy of a car at highway speeds
• 745,700 J — a power of 100 horsepower applied for ten seconds

• 2,684,520 J — a power of one horsepower applied for one hour
• 3,600,000 J (or 3.6 MJ) — 1 kW·h (kilowatt-hour)
• 4.184 × 10⁶ J — energy released by explosion of one kilogram of TNT
• 10⁶ J = 239 kcal — the nutritional value of a snack (e.g. a Mars bar) is around that value, typical servings of staple food such as 150 g rice or 200 g wheat bread as well.
• 1500 kcal = 6.3 × 10⁶ is an often recommended value for the nurtional energy a woman not doing heavy labour needs per day (2000 kcal = 8.4 × 10⁶ for men).

• 2.68 × 10⁷ J — a power of ten horsepower applied for one hour
• 4.8 × 10⁷ J — energy released by combustion of one kilogram of gasoline

• 1.5 × 10⁹ J — energy in an average lightning bolt
• 1.6 × 10⁹ J — energy in an average tankful (45 litres) of gasoline
• 3.2 × 10⁹ J — 900 kW·h: approximate annual power use of a standard clothes dryer
• 3.6 × 10⁹ J — 1000 kW·h
• 4.184 × 10⁹ J — energy released by explosion of 1 ton of TNT

• 7.2 × 10¹⁰ J — energy consumed by the average automobile in the United States in 2000
• 8.64 × 10¹⁰ J — 1 MW·d (megawatt-day), a unit used in the context of power plants

• 3.6 × 10¹² J — 1,000,000 kW·h, or 0.001 TW·h
• 4.184 × 10¹² J — energy released by explosion of 1 kiloton of TNT

• 9.0 × 10¹³ J — Theoretical total mass-energy of one gram of matter

• 9.0 × 10¹⁴ — 90 GW·h — Yearly production of electricity in Togo

Energies 1 E15 J and above

• 3.6 × 10¹⁵ J — 1 TW·h
• 4.184 × 10¹⁵ J — energy released by explosion of 1 megaton of TNT

• 1.74 × 10¹⁶ J — total energy from the Sun that hits the Earth in one second
• 8.403 TW·h (3.03 × 10¹⁶ J) — electricity consumption in Zimbabwe in 1998
• 9.0 × 10¹⁶ J — Theoretical total mass-energy of a kilogram of matter

• 1.5 × 10¹⁷ J (150 PJ) — estimated energy released by Krakatoa eruption
• 2.5 × 10¹⁷ J — energy release of the largest nuclear weapon ever tested
• 4 × 10¹⁷J — 111 TW·h — electricity consumption of Norway in 1998.

• 3.6 × 10¹⁸ J — 1000 TW·h

• 1.04 × 10¹⁹J — total energy from the Sun that hits the Earth in one minute
• 1.339 × 10¹⁹J — 3719.5 TWh — total production of electrical energy in the US in 2001
• 9.0 × 10¹⁹ J — theoretical total mass-energy of 1000 kg of matter

• 1.05 × 10²⁰ J — energy consumed by the United States in one year (2001)
• 1.33 × 10²⁰ J — energy released by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
• 4.26 × 10²⁰ J — energy consumed by the world in one year (2001)
• 6.2 × 10²⁰ J — total energy from the Sun that hits the Earth in one hour

• 3.6 × 10²¹ J — 1,000,000 TW·h
• 6.0 × 10²¹ J — energy in world's estimated natural gas reserves (2003)
• 7.4 × 10²¹ J — energy in world's estimated petroleum reserves (2003)

• 2.6 × 10²² J — energy in world's estimated coal reserves (2003)
• 3.9 × 10²² J — energy in world's estimated total fossil fuel reserves (2003)

• 1.5 × 10²³J — total energy from the Sun that hits the Earth in 24 hours

• 3.6 × 10²⁴ J — 1,000,000,000 TW·h

• 3.827 × 10²⁶ J — energy output of the Sun in one second

• 3.6 × 10²⁷ J — 10¹² TW·h
• 2.30 × 10²⁸ J — energy output of the Sun in one minute

• 3.6 × 10³⁰ J — 10¹⁵ TW·h
• 2.4 × 10³² J — gravitational binding energy of the earth

• 3.6 × 10³³ J — 10¹⁸ TW·h
• 1.2 × 10³⁴ J — energy output of the Sun in one year

• 3.6 × 10³⁶ J — 10²¹ TW·h
• 1.2 × 10³⁷ J — energy output of the Sun in one millennium

• 3.6 × 10³⁹ J — 10²⁴ TW·h
• 1.2 × 10⁴⁰ J — energy output of the Sun in a million years
• 5.37 × 10⁴¹ J — Theoretical total mass-energy of the mass of the Earth
• 6.9 × 10⁴¹ J — gravitational binding energy of the Sun

• 3.6 × 10⁴² J — 10²⁷ TW·h

• 3.6 × 10⁴⁵ J — 10³⁰ TW·h
• 10⁴⁷ J — The energy released in a gamma ray burst
• 1.8 × 10⁴⁷ J — Theoretical total mass-energy of the mass of the Sun

• 10⁷⁰ J — Estimated theoretical total mass-energy of the universe (the largest known energy level)

External link

• Conversion Calculator for Units of ENERGY (http://www.ex.ac.uk/trol/scol/ccenrgy.htm)