Joule is the metric system unit to measure the energy in food, however we still see calories being used everywhere, specially advertising and fitness influencers. Let's stop this nonsense.
The EU should use Joules not calories
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule
48 Comments
mech@feddit.org · 32 pts · 218d
Every packaging in the EU already includes kilojoules as unit for energy content of food.
You can't force influencers to use them, you can only force companies and government bodies.
And in some cases, using metric would simply be worse in daily life.
Like using Kelvin instead of Celcius, meters per second instead of kilometers per hour, seconds in general instead of hours and days...
Fun fact: The fuel consumption of a car that needs 10 litres / 100 km (24 miles per gallon) could be simplified to 0.1 mm^2^ .
Is it metric? Yes. Is it practical? Not really.
rumschlumpel@feddit.org · 9 pts · 217d
Celsius is basically the same as Kelvin, it just puts 0 in a different place.
See Wikipedia:
Jako302@feddit.org · 2 pts · 216d
Most people that know what Kelvin is also know that is the same scale as Celsius, but that doesn't mean its equally is convenient in everyday use.
The single best thing about the Celsius scale (and pretty mich the only thing that makes it better than Fahrenheit except of familiarity) is that 0°C is placed at the most impactful Temperature point for normal people.
Don_alForno@feddit.org · 8 pts · 216d
You seem to confuse metric with SI units. And prefixes for the base units (like km instead of 1000m) do exist in the SI system.
NorskSud@lemmy.pt · 5 pts · 217d
I'm not forcing anyone, I'm trying to influence them to use joules instead
mech@feddit.org · 7 pts · 217d
Your title says the EU should use Joules.
The EU already does use Joules for food.
Not sure what you mean. Influencers aren't the EU.
NorskSud@lemmy.pt · 3 pts · 217d
I mean EU in the widest sense including us, the EU citizens, including personal trainers and marketing people.
Hiro8811@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 218d
Also packages are made for different country so they need to contain the specific info
excral@feddit.org · 4 pts · 216d
Relevant
xkcdwhat-if:https://what-if.xkcd.com/11/
FleetingTit@feddit.org · 3 pts · 216d
Celsius, l/100km, and kph are still all metric.
Joyje@feddit.nu · -1 pts · 217d
No?
They are the same thing. They just use different starting points.
Meters per second and kilometers per hour are both the same system, called the metric system.
What are you on about? Seconds, hours and days are all part of the same system.
Actually yes. 10 L = 10 dm^3 = 10 000 cm^3. That means 10 L / 100 km = 10 000 cm^3 / 100 km.
To simplify further:
10 000 cm^3 / 100 km =
10 cm^3 / 100 m =
0.1 cm^3 / 100 cm =
0.001 cm^3 / 1 cm =
0.001 cm^2 =
0.1 mm^2
It was already metric from the start before any mathematical simplification was done, so the metric system was definitely practical here.
Is the simplest mathematical form always the same as the simplest practical form? Definitely not, but that has nothing to do with the metric system.
gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org · 2 pts · 217d
hour are not a metric unit though?
Joyje@feddit.nu · 4 pts · 217d
Hour isn't the SI unit for time, but it is still accepted as a non-SI unit within the metric system.
https://metricsystem.net/non-si-units/units-whose-names-include-non-si-units/kilometre-per-hour/
mech@feddit.org · 2 pts · 217d
If you're gonna correct someone, be correct.
Your further simplification ignores that one of the units is cubed.
Joyje@feddit.nu · 1 pts · 217d
What do you mean? I wrote cubed as ^3 throughout the entire explanation.
mech@feddit.org · 2 pts · 217d
You edited your comment 16 minutes ago. When I wrote my reply you had your units wrong.
Joyje@feddit.nu · 2 pts · 217d
Yes. I eventually noticed my mistake and corrected it. 👍Thanks for pointing it out.
quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 28 pts · 218d
Why? It is quite a round number. 1 calorie raises the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree
ftbd@feddit.org · 3 pts · 217d
And how do you convert that to mechanical or electrical energy?
quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 217d
Why would I need the energy of a biscuit as electrical energy? In a case like that I guess that I'll multiply by 4.whatever and get joules.
ftbd@feddit.org · 8 pts · 217d
The energy needed to heat water also has no practical relevance in your everyday life, and calories are not inherently easier. If everything had always been in kJ, you would find it just as intuitive.
quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 217d
I know
Paulemeister@feddit.org · 5 pts · 217d
Counter question: Why would I need to know how many grams of water I can raise the Temperature by one degree with the food I eat?
quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 217d
For the same practical reason I would need the mechanical energy of a carrot.
Wait wait, I got it! How many biscuits do I need to burn to boil the carrot?
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 218d
But calories are metric!
" the heat energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 °C "
NorskSud@lemmy.pt · 4 pts · 217d
From Wikipedia:
Kornblumenratte@feddit.org · 7 pts · 217d
Calories are CGS units, which is a metric system.
What you want to argue is that they are not SI units.
Metric ≠ SI
Mubelotix@jlai.lu · -1 pts · 217d
Wikipedia disagrees with you
Kornblumenratte@feddit.org · 1 pts · 216d
No, it doesn't
relevant citation, highlighting by me:
Mubelotix@jlai.lu · 1 pts · 215d
Read that again
gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org · 1 pts · 217d
i do like kWh (1000 Watt * 1 hour) even though it's not metric. because it's useful in everyday life.
tamlyn@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 218d
Every food should have Joules information besides calories. So it's not really a law problem, just how most people use it.
quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 14 pts · 218d
Every food already have joules besides of calories.
gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org · 7 pts · 217d
i already do. a person requires 8 MJ of energy/day, that's about 100 W on average.
rbn@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 217d
Can you explain the maths on that?
I thought 1 Joule equals 1 Watt for 1 second. 8 MJ = 8000000 Ws. If you divide by 3600 (60 * 60), you get ~2222 Watt hours or 2.222 kWh.
B0rax@feddit.org · 2 pts · 217d
There are 24h in a day. Divide your number by 24 and it will roughly match.
rbn@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 217d
Thanks! I guess I was a bit confused there. 🙈
sockinggood@piefed.social · 5 pts · 218d
Do you also want to use metric for time of day?
Calories for food is more understandable for people I think. But personally I welcome metric everywhere.
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 218d
Calories are metric. This is like wanting people to switch to Kelvin instead of Celsius.
victorz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 217d
Good analogy. Exactly.
rumschlumpel@feddit.org · 3 pts · 217d
I'd be down for base 10 time.
NorskSud@lemmy.pt · 2 pts · 217d
By more understandable you mean they're used to. They can get used to something else.
guelsoylu@piefed.social · 2 pts · 213d
Is this discussion imported from the US? It reads like a redneck objecting to the metric system purely out of habit, while shouting “We’re American! metric is nonsense!!!1!”
What practical advantages does using joules offer over calories?
NorskSud@lemmy.pt · 1 pts · 213d
Joules is the correct and accurate unit. Calories are used out of habit despite being a less optimal unit not endorsed by science. So it's weird to be called a redneck for stating that.
PS: and no, this is not imported from the US where no one has ever heard of joules. Joules are however commonly used in some countries already, so there's hope.
victorz@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 217d
Thought I was in unpopular opinion for a second there. Sorry, I meant for a 1/60th of a minute.
Kornblumenratte@feddit.org · 1 pts · 217d
Actually, the second is the base unit.
victorz@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 217d
I didn't claim it isn't. 🤔
Mubelotix@jlai.lu · 1 pts · 217d
Which is particurlaly funny given that it was abolished when the metric system was created. During the revolution, we decided we would have decimal time instead of those ancient babylonian units. It was reverted a few years later, but the metric system was originally designed for having 100k seconds per day