Screen saver/Graphics: What does “kcal/mole” and “K” mean on these plots for The Clean Energy Project?
The energy units are kilocalorie per mole (symbol: kcal/mole), where a kcal is the amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of one kilogram of water by one centigrade degree (1˚C) and a mole is a measure of how many molecules are in the system. The temperature units are Kelvin (symbol: K), which is a unit of absolute temperature. A change of 1 K corresponds to a change of 1˚C. In fact, 0 K represents the theoretically coldest temperature where all the molecular and atomic motion ceases. On the Kelvin scale, the freezing point of water is 273 (273 K = 0˚C = 32˚F).
