Short form of kiloelectron volt, a unit of energy commonly used in atomic and particle physics to measure the energy of photons, electrons, and other subatomic particles. Equal to 1,000 electron volts.
Scientific abbreviation from 'kilo-' (thousand) plus 'electron volt,' a unit named after the volt (honoring Alessandro Volta). The electron volt was defined in the early 20th century as physicists needed convenient units for measuring the tiny energies involved in atomic processes.
A keV is an incredibly tiny amount of energy - about 160 trillionths of a joule - yet it's perfectly scaled for atomic phenomena. The energy that binds an electron to a hydrogen atom is about 13.6 eV, making the keV ideal for describing X-rays and the energy levels in heavier atoms.
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