Capacitor µF, nF and pF Conversion Calculator

Convert a capacitor value between µF, nF, pF, mF and F. The chart below lists the standard values in all three common units.

Capacitor Conversion Chart: µF, nF and pF

Standard capacitor values (E12 series) written in the three units used on datasheets and on the part itself, with the 3-digit marking code.

How to Convert Capacitor Units

Capacitance is measured in farads (F). The farad is a very large unit, so real capacitors are marked with an SI decimal prefix — picofarad, nanofarad, microfarad or millifarad. Because the prefixes are powers of ten, converting between them never changes the digits: it only moves the decimal point.

\(1\ \mu F = 10^{3}\ nF = 10^{6}\ pF\)

The Three Conversions People Look Up Most

• µF to nF: multiply by 1,000 — 0.47 µF = 470 nF
• nF to µF: divide by 1,000 — 100 nF = 0.1 µF
• nF to pF: multiply by 1,000 — 4.7 nF = 4,700 pF
• µF to pF: multiply by 1,000,000 — 0.1 µF = 100,000 pF
• µF to F: divide by 1,000,000 — 2,200 µF = 0.0022 F

Careful: MFD and MMFD Are Not What They Look Like

On motor capacitors, HVAC parts and older schematics you will find MFD, MF or mfd printed on the can. In that notation they all mean microfarad (µF), not millifarad — a 35 MFD motor run capacitor is 35 µF. The older MMFD (micro-microfarad) means picofarad. The habit comes from a time when the Greek letter µ was hard to print, and it survives in the HVAC trade.

So: 35 MFD = 35 µF, and 100 MMFD = 100 pF. If a part is genuinely in the millifarad range it is almost always written in µF instead — 4,700 µF rather than 4.7 mF.

Small Capacitors Carry a Code, Not a Value

Ceramic and film capacitors are too small to print the value on, so they carry a three-digit code: two significant digits followed by the number of zeros, and the result is in picofarads. A capacitor marked 104 is 10 followed by four zeros = 100,000 pF = 100 nF = 0.1 µF. The chart above lists the code next to each standard value, and the capacitor code calculator decodes any marking, including the tolerance letter.

Where the Standard Values Come From

The values in the chart are the E12 series (IEC 60063, ±10% tolerance): 1.0, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, 2.2, 2.7, 3.3, 3.9, 4.7, 5.6, 6.8 and 8.2, repeated in every decade. It is the same preferred-number series used for resistors, which is why 4.7 keeps showing up in both parts bins.

About the Author

Adilson Fernandes is an experienced Electronic Engineer with an Engineer's degree focused in Telecommunications Engineering. He has been a web developer since 2014 and specializes in making web-based calculators like Coolconversion.com and many others.

By Adilson Fernandes

Reviewed by Tiago Fernandes

References

• BIPM - The International System of Units (SI), 9th edition - SI prefixes.
• NIST - Metric (SI) Prefixes.

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