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Comment by greesil | Hacker News Reader

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greesil·

I prefer to use British Thermal Units (BTU) for my battery capacity.

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I use calories… then I can plan my meals and electronics together.

I know it's a matter of taste but personally I prefer to use the Calorie instead of the calorie ;)

(Context: 1 Calorie = 1 kilocalorie = 1000 (gram) calories; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie)

> 1000 (gram) calories

The "(gram)" make no sense here. We commonly use "kilo" as shorthand for kilogram", but kilo is just a prefix indicating 1000 and never indicates "kilogram" when given as a prefix to another unit, and so there's no implied/left out "gram" in 1 kilocalorie.

1 kilogram Calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by 1 degree. 1 gram calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree.

I see there's some use of it after having done some searches, so I'll concede it makes some minor sense as a means to disambiguate due to the Calorie/calorie confusion. Especially as "calorie" and "gram calorie" then means the same thing. This is actually the first time I can recall having seen anyone use it, though, and so for me at least it confused matters rather than clear it up...

Today I learned there are multiple BTU definitions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_thermal_unit lists Thermochemical, 59 °F, 60 °F, 39 °F, and International Steam Table.

Though as the difference is at most 0.5%, it's probably won't affect your battery buying experience. :)

Measuring by TNT equivalent is more standardized. "This battery stores 50 grams of TNT."

Ummm, on second thought, maybe don't use that term at the airport, .. or in secure areas, ... or near the police, ... or in public, ... or on social media or anything else tapped by the NSA or other authorities.

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