Megaelectronvolt (MeV)
One million electronvolts. The scale of nuclear reactions.
1 megaelectronvolt = 1.602176634×10⁻¹³ joules (exactly).
About the megaelectronvolt
Nuclei trade energy in millions of electronvolts. In binding-energy tables, medium-mass nuclei hold about 8.8 MeV per nucleon, with iron-56 listed at 8.7906 MeV. Fusing deuterium with tritium releases about 17.53 MeV per reaction, while an electron and positron annihilating give 1.022 MeV. One megaelectronvolt equals 1.602176634 x 10^-13 J, so even these reactions involve only tiny amounts of energy per event.
Per atom, though, the scale is enormous. A 17.53 MeV reaction is more than a million times the 1 to 10 eV that binds atoms into molecules, which is why nuclear fuels hold so much more energy than chemical ones. The electron's rest energy is 0.511 MeV and the muon's is 105.7 MeV, so the unit also serves for particle masses. A thousand MeV make one GeV, the next step up.
Sources: Wikipedia: Nuclear binding energy; Wikipedia: Electronvolt
Megaelectronvolt conversion chart
1 megaelectronvolt expressed in every other energy unit:
| Unit | 1 megaelectronvolt |
|---|---|
| Joules | 1.602176634×10⁻¹³ |
| Kilojoules | 1.602176634×10⁻¹⁶ |
| Watt-hours | 4.45049065×10⁻¹⁷ |
| Kilowatt-hours | 4.45049065×10⁻²⁰ |
| British Thermal Units | 1.518570443×10⁻¹⁶ |
| Calories | 3.829294058×10⁻¹⁴ |
| Kilocalories | 3.829294058×10⁻¹⁷ |
| Megajoules | 1.602176634×10⁻¹⁹ |
| Gigajoules | 1.602176634×10⁻²² |
| Megawatt-hours | 4.45049065×10⁻²³ |
| Foot-pounds | 1.181704842×10⁻¹³ |
| Millijoules | 1.602176634×10⁻¹⁰ |
| Electronvolts | 1,000,000 |
| Kiloelectronvolts | 1,000 |
| Gigaelectronvolts | 0.001 |
| Tons Of TNT | 3.829294058×10⁻²³ |
| Tonnes Of Oil Equivalent | 3.826733147×10⁻²⁴ |
| Therms | 1.518933028×10⁻²¹ |
| Quads | 1.518570443×10⁻³¹ |
| Ergs | 0.000001602176634 |
| Calories (IT) | 3.826733147×10⁻¹⁴ |
| Kilogram-force Meters | 1.63376549×10⁻¹⁴ |
| Horsepower-hours | 5.968206271×10⁻²⁰ |
| Liter-atmospheres | 1.581225397×10⁻¹⁵ |
More Scientific units
- calorie (energy)
- kilocalorie (energy)
- electronvolt (energy)
- kiloelectronvolt (energy)
- gigaelectronvolt (energy)
- calorie (IT) (energy)
- liter-atmosphere (energy)
- ton of TNT (energy)
- femtometer (length)
- angstrom (length)
- dalton (weight & mass)
- cubic kilometer (volume)
- barn (area)
- degree Rankine (temperature)
- degree Newton (temperature)
- picosecond (time)
Browse all energy units.