Units for a Joule [ENDORSED]

[Esther Ahn 4I]

Can someone please explain why the units for a Joule are 1 kg*m^2/s^2 :) I’m just a bit confused as to where this is coming from.

[Jeannine 1I]

A "Joule" is a unit of energy, and is named after the man who discovered it. I think we just use the term "joule" as a shorter way to say 1 kg*m^2/s^2, and it lets people know automatically that we're referring to energy. I hope that helps at least a bit haha(: !

[Jacqueline Duong 1H]

This is because joule is a unit of work, and the equation for work is: work = force x displacement. When you expand this, you get work = mass x acceleration x displacement. The units for mass is kg, for acceleration is m/s^2, and for displacement is m. As a result, when you times them all together, you get kg(m^2)(s^-2). I hope this helps!

[monikac4k]

I know other people already gave good explanations for the units of a joule, but I wanted to share a way to sort of remember the units. When I took AP Physics in high school, my teacher told us a little phrase to remember the units: "Newton, meter (meet her). She's a Joule (jewel)!" From physics we learned that a joule, in terms of units, is equal to a newton times a meter. Of course then you need to know the units of a Newton, a unit used to measure force, which is kg*m*s^-2. It is a funny way to remember units.