Metric Prefix Converter
Move a value between SI prefixes — picofarads to microfarads, kilohms to ohms, megahertz to hertz — with the exponent shift shown.
How it works
SI prefixes are powers of ten. Converting between two of them is just a shift in exponent — subtract the target's exponent from the source's and move the decimal point by the difference.
Most electronics prefixes step in thousands: pico, nano, micro, milli, then kilo, mega, giga, tera, each 1,000 apart. Centi is the odd one out at 10⁻², which is why it appears in mechanical measurements but rarely in component values.
Capacitors are where this bites hardest. The same part is marked 100 nF, 0.1 µF or 104 depending on the vendor and the era, and confusing nano with micro is a factor of a thousand — enough to turn a filter into a short or a timing circuit into a stopwatch.
The formula
Conversion
value_out = value_in × 10^(exp_from − exp_to)
Prefixes
p=−12 n=−9 µ=−6 m=−3 c=−2 k=3 M=6 G=9 T=12
Example
1 µF = 1 × 10^(−6 − −9) nF = 1000 nF
Worked examples
| Scenario | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1 µF to nanofarads | 0.1 × 10^(−6 − −9) | 100 nF |
| 4.7 kΩ to ohms | 4.7 × 10³ | 4,700 Ω |
| 2.4 GHz to megahertz | 2.4 × 10^(9 − 6) | 2,400 MHz |
When you'd use it
- Reading a capacitor marking against a schematic in different units
- Converting a datasheet figure into the units your calculation uses
- Checking an order of magnitude before trusting a result
- Translating between engineering and scientific notation
Common questions
How many nanofarads is a microfarad?
One thousand. Micro is 10⁻⁶ and nano is 10⁻⁹, so every microfarad is 1,000 nF and every nanofarad is 1,000 pF. A 0.1 µF part and a 100 nF part are the same component.
Why do capacitors use µF and nF inconsistently?
Regional and historical habit. American schematics have long favoured µF for everything, European ones use nF freely, and the three-digit code on the part itself is in picofarads. They describe the same value — always convert before comparing.
What is engineering notation?
Scientific notation restricted to exponents that are multiples of three, so every value lands on a real SI prefix. 47,000 Ω becomes 47 × 10³ — that is, 47 kΩ — rather than 4.7 × 10⁴, which has no prefix.
Is anything I enter sent to a server?
No. Every calculation runs in your browser, so component values, circuit figures and measurements are never uploaded, logged or stored. There is no account and no record of what you typed.