Convert Foot-pound to Calorie
1 foot-pound = 0.3240483 calorie (cal). For example, 10 foot-pound = 3.240483 calorie and 100 foot-pound = 32.40483 calorie. Type any value below to convert foot-pound to calorie both ways — it runs entirely in your browser.
Torque vs energy: Foot-pound (ft·lbf) is used both as a unit of ENERGY — where 1 N·m = 1 joule exactly — and as a unit of TORQUE (a twisting force × distance). This page converts the ENERGY meaning, so the figures above are correct for work and heat. A newton-metre of torque is a different physical quantity and does NOT convert into joules, kilowatt-hours or calories.
Quick answer: Foot-pound to Calorie
1 Foot-pound = 0.3240483 Calorie (ft·lbf → cal). To convert foot-pound to calorie, multiply by 0.3240483. To convert calorie to foot-pound, multiply by 3.08596. The converter at the top does this instantly and both ways; the sections below give the formula, worked examples, a full conversion chart and answers to the most common foot-pound-to-calorie questions.
How to convert Foot-pound to Calorie
To convert foot-pound to calorie, multiply the number of foot-pound by the conversion factor 0.3240483, because 1 ft·lbf = 0.3240483 cal. The conversion is linear, so the same factor works for any value — whole numbers, decimals or fractions. For the reverse direction, 1 cal = 3.08596 ft·lbf, so you divide by 0.3240483 (or multiply by 3.08596) to turn calorie back into foot-pound.
cal = ft·lbf × 0.3240483 ·
ft·lbf = cal × 3.08596
- Write down the value you want to convert, in foot-pound.
- Multiply it by 0.3240483.
- The result is the same area/length/quantity expressed in calorie.
Foot-pound to Calorie — worked examples
Each row shows the exact arithmetic so you can follow the conversion step by step. For example, 5 foot-pound is 1.620241 calorie because 5 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 1.620241 cal.
| Foot-pound | Calculation | Calorie |
|---|---|---|
| 1 ft·lbf | 1 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 0.3240483 cal | 0.3240483 cal |
| 2 ft·lbf | 2 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 0.6480965 cal | 0.6480965 cal |
| 3 ft·lbf | 3 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 0.9721448 cal | 0.9721448 cal |
| 5 ft·lbf | 5 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 1.620241 cal | 1.620241 cal |
| 7 ft·lbf | 7 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 2.268338 cal | 2.268338 cal |
| 10 ft·lbf | 10 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 3.240483 cal | 3.240483 cal |
| 12 ft·lbf | 12 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 3.888579 cal | 3.888579 cal |
| 15 ft·lbf | 15 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 4.860724 cal | 4.860724 cal |
| 20 ft·lbf | 20 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 6.480965 cal | 6.480965 cal |
| 25 ft·lbf | 25 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 8.101207 cal | 8.101207 cal |
| 50 ft·lbf | 50 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 16.20241 cal | 16.20241 cal |
| 100 ft·lbf | 100 ft·lbf × 0.3240483 = 32.40483 cal | 32.40483 cal |
Common Foot-pound to Calorie conversions
These are the foot-pound-to-calorie values people look up most often. Every figure is computed from the exact factor, so you can rely on them for quick reference:
- 1 foot-pound = 0.3240483 calorie
- 2 foot-pound = 0.6480965 calorie
- 2.5 foot-pound = 0.8101207 calorie
- 3 foot-pound = 0.9721448 calorie
- 4 foot-pound = 1.296193 calorie
- 5 foot-pound = 1.620241 calorie
- 6 foot-pound = 1.94429 calorie
- 7 foot-pound = 2.268338 calorie
- 8 foot-pound = 2.592386 calorie
- 9 foot-pound = 2.916434 calorie
- 10 foot-pound = 3.240483 calorie
- 12 foot-pound = 3.888579 calorie
- 15 foot-pound = 4.860724 calorie
- 20 foot-pound = 6.480965 calorie
- 25 foot-pound = 8.101207 calorie
- 30 foot-pound = 9.721448 calorie
- 50 foot-pound = 16.20241 calorie
- 75 foot-pound = 24.30362 calorie
- 100 foot-pound = 32.40483 calorie
- 200 foot-pound = 64.80965 calorie
- 500 foot-pound = 162.0241 calorie
- 1000 foot-pound = 324.0483 calorie
Foot-pound to Calorie conversion chart (both directions)
The chart below converts foot-pound to calorie and calorie to foot-pound side by side, so it works whichever way you need. 1 foot-pound = 0.3240483 calorie, and 1 calorie = 3.08596 foot-pound.
| Foot-pound → Calorie | Calorie → Foot-pound |
|---|---|
| 0.25 ft·lbf = 0.08101207 cal | 0.25 cal = 0.77149 ft·lbf |
| 0.5 ft·lbf = 0.1620241 cal | 0.5 cal = 1.54298 ft·lbf |
| 1 ft·lbf = 0.3240483 cal | 1 cal = 3.08596 ft·lbf |
| 2 ft·lbf = 0.6480965 cal | 2 cal = 6.17192 ft·lbf |
| 3 ft·lbf = 0.9721448 cal | 3 cal = 9.25788 ft·lbf |
| 4 ft·lbf = 1.296193 cal | 4 cal = 12.34384 ft·lbf |
| 5 ft·lbf = 1.620241 cal | 5 cal = 15.4298 ft·lbf |
| 6 ft·lbf = 1.94429 cal | 6 cal = 18.51576 ft·lbf |
| 7 ft·lbf = 2.268338 cal | 7 cal = 21.60172 ft·lbf |
| 8 ft·lbf = 2.592386 cal | 8 cal = 24.68768 ft·lbf |
| 9 ft·lbf = 2.916434 cal | 9 cal = 27.77364 ft·lbf |
| 10 ft·lbf = 3.240483 cal | 10 cal = 30.8596 ft·lbf |
| 12 ft·lbf = 3.888579 cal | 12 cal = 37.03152 ft·lbf |
| 15 ft·lbf = 4.860724 cal | 15 cal = 46.2894 ft·lbf |
| 20 ft·lbf = 6.480965 cal | 20 cal = 61.7192 ft·lbf |
| 25 ft·lbf = 8.101207 cal | 25 cal = 77.149 ft·lbf |
| 30 ft·lbf = 9.721448 cal | 30 cal = 92.5788 ft·lbf |
| 40 ft·lbf = 12.96193 cal | 40 cal = 123.4384 ft·lbf |
| 50 ft·lbf = 16.20241 cal | 50 cal = 154.298 ft·lbf |
| 75 ft·lbf = 24.30362 cal | 75 cal = 231.447 ft·lbf |
| 100 ft·lbf = 32.40483 cal | 100 cal = 308.596 ft·lbf |
| 150 ft·lbf = 48.60724 cal | 150 cal = 462.894 ft·lbf |
| 200 ft·lbf = 64.80965 cal | 200 cal = 617.192 ft·lbf |
| 250 ft·lbf = 81.01207 cal | 250 cal = 771.49 ft·lbf |
| 500 ft·lbf = 162.0241 cal | 500 cal = 1,542.98 ft·lbf |
| 1000 ft·lbf = 324.0483 cal | 1000 cal = 3,085.96 ft·lbf |
Foot-pound vs Calorie: which is bigger?
A calorie is the larger unit: one calorie equals 3.08596 foot-pounds. Put another way, you need 3.08596 foot-pounds to make a single calorie.
What is a Foot-pound? History, origin and usage
The foot-pound is a traditional British and American unit of work, defined as the energy transferred when one pound-force acts through a distance of one foot. It predates the metric joule and grew out of practical engineering in the imperial system, where force was measured in pounds-force and distance in feet.
The foot-pound survives in US engineering and especially in firearms ballistics, where the muzzle energy of a bullet is almost always quoted in foot-pounds. Its near-twin, the pound-foot (lbf·ft), is the everyday US unit of torque for engines and fasteners.
One foot-pound is about 1.356 joules — roughly the energy needed to lift a one-pound weight one foot. The foot-pound of energy and the pound-foot of torque carry the same number but describe different quantities, so careful writers add “of energy” or “of torque” to avoid confusion.
What is a Calorie? History, origin and usage
The calorie — from the Latin calor, “heat” — was introduced as a heat unit by Nicolas Clément in lectures around 1819-1824. The small (gram) calorie is roughly the heat needed to warm one gram of water by one degree Celsius; the modern thermochemical calorie is fixed at exactly 4.184 joules.
In chemistry and physics “cal” usually means the small calorie, used for reaction heats and specific-heat work, though the joule has officially replaced it within SI since 1948. In nutrition the capital-C “Calorie” actually means a kilocalorie — a thousand of these small calories.
The confusing food “Calorie” is really a kilocalorie: the nutritionist Wilbur Atwater popularised the capital-C convention in 1887, following Marcellin Berthelot’s 1879 distinction. So a 200-“Calorie” snack actually holds 200,000 of the physicists’ small calories.
Convert 1 Foot-pound to other units
It can help to see a foot-pound next to the other units it is commonly compared with. One foot-pound (ft·lbf) is equal to:
| 1 Foot-pound equals | Unit |
|---|---|
| 1.355818 J | Joule |
| 1.355818 N·m | Newton-metre |
| 0.001355818 kJ | Kilojoule |
| 0.000001355818 MJ | Megajoule |
| 0.0003766161 Wh | Watt-hour |
| 0.0000003766161 kWh | Kilowatt-hour |
| 0.0000000003766161 MWh | Megawatt-hour |
| 8,462,350,000,000 MeV | Megaelectronvolt |
| 0.3240483 cal | Calorie |
| 0.0003240483 kcal | Kilocalorie |
| 0.001285067 BTU | British Thermal Unit |
Convert 1 Calorie to other units
One calorie (cal) is equal to:
| 1 Calorie equals | Unit |
|---|---|
| 4.184 J | Joule |
| 4.184 N·m | Newton-metre |
| 0.004184 kJ | Kilojoule |
| 0.000004184 MJ | Megajoule |
| 0.001162222 Wh | Watt-hour |
| 0.000001162222 kWh | Kilowatt-hour |
| 0.000000001162222 MWh | Megawatt-hour |
| 3.08596 ft·lbf | Foot-pound |
| 26,114,470,000,000 MeV | Megaelectronvolt |
| 0.001 kcal | Kilocalorie |
| 0.003965667 BTU | British Thermal Unit |
Tips for converting Foot-pound to Calorie
- To go from foot-pound to calorie, multiply by 0.3240483; to go back, divide by 0.3240483 (or multiply by 3.08596).
- For a quick mental estimate, remember that 1 foot-pound ≈ 0.3240483 calorie, so 10 foot-pound ≈ 3.240483 calorie.
- The converter above keeps full precision; the tables round for readability, so use the tool for exact figures.
- Both fields update live as you type — change either side to convert in that direction.
How to use this Foot-pound to Calorie converter
Type a number into the Foot-pound field and the equivalent in Calorie appears instantly — there is no “convert” button to press and nothing is sent to a server, so it works offline once the page has loaded and is safe for any data. You can also type into the Calorie field to convert the other way (calorie to foot-pound). Use the swap control to flip the two units, and copy the result with a single click. Because the calculation runs in your browser with full floating-point precision, the converter is more exact than the rounded figures shown in the reference chart above — use the chart for quick look-ups and the tool for precise work.
Accuracy and method
Every figure on this page — the formula, the worked examples, the conversion chart and the “convert to other units” tables — is computed from a single verified conversion factor (1 ft·lbf = 0.3240483 cal), never copied from a hand-typed lookup table that could drift. That factor is derived from each unit’s definition in terms of a common base unit, and an automated check re-verifies all of the site’s factors on every update, so the numbers here stay correct over time. This matters for foot-pound-to-calorie conversions because a small rounding error in a published table compounds quickly at larger quantities; computing from the exact factor avoids that.
Sources
- NIST Special Publication 811 — Guide for the Use of the SI — publishes the exact metric equivalents of the customary units. The inch, foot, yard and mile are defined exactly in metres by the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement, so every imperial figure on this page is exact, not rounded.
- BIPM — The International System of Units (SI Brochure) — the defining document for the SI, published by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. It fixes the base unit that this conversion resolves to, which is why the factor here can be exact rather than approximate.
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Frequently asked questions
- How many calorie are in 1 foot-pound?
- 1 foot-pound = 0.3240483 calorie (cal). To convert any number of foot-pound to calorie, multiply by 0.3240483.
- How do I convert foot-pound to calorie?
- Multiply the number of foot-pound by 0.3240483. For example, 10 foot-pound = 10 × 0.3240483 = 3.240483 calorie, and 25 foot-pound = 8.101207 calorie.
- How many foot-pound are in 1 calorie?
- 1 calorie = 3.08596 foot-pound. So to convert calorie back to foot-pound, multiply by 3.08596.
- What is the formula to convert foot-pound to calorie?
- calorie = foot-pound × 0.3240483. The reverse formula is foot-pound = calorie × 3.08596.
- How much is 100 foot-pound in calorie?
- 100 foot-pound = 32.40483 calorie. (And 1000 foot-pound = 324.0483 calorie.)
- Which is bigger, a foot-pound or a calorie?
- A calorie is larger: 1 calorie = 3.08596 foot-pound.
- Is this foot-pound to calorie converter accurate?
- Yes — every value is computed from the exact 0.3240483 cal per ft·lbf factor (not rounded look-up tables), and the factors are re-verified automatically on every update.
- Can I convert calorie to foot-pound too?
- Yes. The converter works both ways — enter a value in either field. 1 calorie = 3.08596 foot-pound.