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I'm developing a calculator that calculates how much calories you burn per minute.

This formula is what I have so far:

Weight in Kg * 0.02

Example:  60 * 0.02 = 1.2 calories per minute


1.2 * 1440 = 1728 calories burned in a day

This is my questions:

Do I need factors such as height and age?

How can this formula be used by people using imperal instead of metric height?

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It does have that: How can I add height and age to the formula? – user1431627 Nov 20 '12 at 21:06
Let $K$ be the weight in kg, and $P$ the weight in pounds. Instead of $(K)(0.02)$ you can use $(P)(0.009)$, since $1$ pound is about $0.45$ kg. – André Nicolas Nov 20 '12 at 21:15
You have nowhere near enough data to make this calculation. There is enough misinformation in the world already; please don't add to it by coming up with an arbitrary (and arbitrarily inaccurate) formula that people will then take for granted. If you really want to make a useful calorie calculator, you should ask people like biomechanics experts or dieticians. Unfortunately there do not seem to be any StackExchange sites on these topics. – Rahul Narain Nov 20 '12 at 21:41

closed as off topic by Will Hunting, Micah, Chris Eagle, martini, TMM Nov 20 '12 at 21:58

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1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote

Citation from http://www.livestrong.com/article/221621-formula-for-calories-burned-during-exercise/:

The Journal of Sports Sciences provides a calorie expenditure formula for each gender. Men use the following formula: Calories Burned = [(Age x 0.2017) -- (Weight x 0.09036) + (Heart Rate x 0.6309) -- 55.0969] x Time / 4.184. Women use the following formula: Calories Burned = [(Age x 0.074) -- (Weight x 0.05741) + (Heart Rate x 0.4472) -- 20.4022] x Time / 4.184.

However, your question has nothing to do with math....

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Thank you so much! – user1431627 Nov 21 '12 at 7:52

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