Kiloelectronvolt (keV)
1,000 electronvolts. X-ray photon energies are in this range.
1 kiloelectronvolt = 1.602176634×10⁻¹⁶ joules (exactly).
About the kiloelectronvolt
X-rays are the usual home of the keV. Wilhelm Roentgen discovered them on 8 November 1895, and their photon energies span about 100 eV to 100 keV. Photons above roughly 5 to 10 keV count as hard X-rays, while lower ones are soft. Medical diagnostic tubes run at 20 to 150 kilovolts, which sets the highest photon energies of a radiograph at about 20 to 150 keV. One keV is 1.602176634 x 10^-16 J.
Fusion research uses it for temperature. A magnetic confinement plasma at about 15 keV corresponds to roughly 174 million kelvin. Compared with the electronvolt, a kiloelectronvolt is a thousand times larger, so it lies well above the 1 to 10 eV of chemical bonds, yet far below the millions of electronvolts released in nuclear reactions.
Sources: Wikipedia: X-ray; Wikipedia: Electronvolt
Kiloelectronvolt conversion chart
1 kiloelectronvolt expressed in every other energy unit:
| Unit | 1 kiloelectronvolt |
|---|---|
| Joules | 1.602176634×10⁻¹⁶ |
| Kilojoules | 1.602176634×10⁻¹⁹ |
| Watt-hours | 4.45049065×10⁻²⁰ |
| Kilowatt-hours | 4.45049065×10⁻²³ |
| British Thermal Units | 1.518570443×10⁻¹⁹ |
| Calories | 3.829294058×10⁻¹⁷ |
| Kilocalories | 3.829294058×10⁻²⁰ |
| Megajoules | 1.602176634×10⁻²² |
| Gigajoules | 1.602176634×10⁻²⁵ |
| Megawatt-hours | 4.45049065×10⁻²⁶ |
| Foot-pounds | 1.181704842×10⁻¹⁶ |
| Millijoules | 1.602176634×10⁻¹³ |
| Electronvolts | 1,000 |
| Megaelectronvolts | 0.001 |
| Gigaelectronvolts | 0.000001 |
| Tons Of TNT | 3.829294058×10⁻²⁶ |
| Tonnes Of Oil Equivalent | 3.826733147×10⁻²⁷ |
| Therms | 1.518933028×10⁻²⁴ |
| Quads | 1.518570443×10⁻³⁴ |
| Ergs | 1.602176634×10⁻⁹ |
| Calories (IT) | 3.826733147×10⁻¹⁷ |
| Kilogram-force Meters | 1.63376549×10⁻¹⁷ |
| Horsepower-hours | 5.968206271×10⁻²³ |
| Liter-atmospheres | 1.581225397×10⁻¹⁸ |
More Scientific units
- calorie (energy)
- kilocalorie (energy)
- electronvolt (energy)
- megaelectronvolt (energy)
- gigaelectronvolt (energy)
- calorie (IT) (energy)
- liter-atmosphere (energy)
- ton of TNT (energy)
- femtometer (length)
- angstrom (length)
- dalton (weight & mass)
- cubic kilometer (volume)
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- degree Rankine (temperature)
- degree Newton (temperature)
- picosecond (time)
Browse all energy units.