Quantity

Electric Potential Difference (Voltage)

Electric Current
Power
Energy/Work/Heat
Electric Charge
Resistance
Capacitance
Inductance
Frequency

SI Unit
volts
ampere
watt
joule
coulomb
ohm
farad
henry
hertz

Unit Abbreviation
V
A
W
J
C

F
H
Hz

The Prefixes
When first learning about metric prefixes, chances are you were taught these six prefixes first:
Prefix (Symbol)
kilo (k)
hecto (h)
deka (da)
no prefix
deci (d)

Power
103
102
101
100
10-1

Numeric Representation
1,000
100
10
1 unit
0.1

10-2
10-3

centi (c)
milli (m)

0.01
0.001

DESCRIBING THE LARGE

Prefix (Symbol)
yotta (Y)
zetta (Z)
exa (E)
peta (P)
tera (T)
giga (G)
mega (M)
kilo (k)

Power
1024
1021
1018
1015
1012
109
106
103

Numeric Representation
1 septillion
1 sextillion
1 quintillion
1 quadrillion
1 trillion
1 billion
1 million
1 thousand

no prefix

100

1 unit

DESCRIBING THE SMALL

Prefix (Symbol)
no prefix
milli (m)
micro ()
nano (n)
pico (p)
femto (f)
atto (a)
zepto (z)
yocto (y)

Power
100
10-3
10-6
10-9
10-12
10-15
10-18
10-21
10-24

Numeric Representation
1 unit
1 thousandth
1 millionth
1 billionth
1 trillionth
1 quadrillionth
1 quintillionth
1 sextillionth
1 septillionth

ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC UNITS TABLE

Unit Name

Unit Symbol

Quantity

Ampere (amp)

Electric current (I)

Voltage (V, E)

Volt

Electromotive force (E)

Potential difference ()

Ohm

Resistance (R)

Watt

Electric power (P)

Decibel-milliwatt

dBm

Electric power (P)

Decibel-Watt

dBW

Electric power (P)

Volt-Ampere-Reactive

var

Reactive power (Q)

Volt-Ampere

VA

Apparent power (S)

Farad

Capacitance (C)

Henry

Inductance (L)
Conductance (G)

siemens / mho

Coulomb

Electric charge (Q)

Ampere-hour

Ah

Electric charge (Q)

Joule

Energy (E)

Kilowatt-hour

kWh

Energy (E)

Electron-volt

eV

Energy (E)

Ohm-meter

Resistivity ()

siemens per meter

S/m

Conductivity ()

Volts per meter

V/m

Electric field (E)

Newtons per coulomb

N/C

Electric field (E)

Volt-meter

Vm

Electric flux (e)

Tesla

Magnetic field (B)

Admittance (Y)

Gauss

Magnetic field (B)

Weber

Wb

Magnetic flux (m)

Hertz

Hz

Frequency (f)

Seconds

Time (t)

Meter / metre

Length (l)

Square-meter

m2

Area (A)

Decibel

dB

Parts per million

ppm
UNITS PREFIX TABLE

Prefix

Prefix

Prefix

Symbol

factor

pico

10-12

1pF = 10-12F

nano

10-9

1nF = 10-9F

micro

10-6

1A = 10-6A

milli

10-3

1mA = 10-3A

kilo

10 3

1k = 1000

mega

10 6

1MHz = 106Hz

giga

10 9

1GHz = 109Hz

Example

Electrical units definitions

Volt (V)
Volt is the electrical unit of voltage.
One volt is the energy of 1 joule that is consumed when electric charge of 1 coulomb flows in the
circuit.
1V = 1J / 1C

Ampere (A)
Ampere is the electrical unit of electrical current. It measures the amount of electrical charge that
flows in an electrical circuit per 1 second.
1A = 1C / 1s
Ohm ()
Ohm is the electrical unit of resistance.
1 = 1V / 1A
Watt (W)
Watt is the electrical unit of electric power. It measures the rate of consumed energy.
1W = 1J / 1s
1W = 1V 1A
Farad (F)
Farad is the unit of capacitance. It represents the amount of electric charge in coulombs that is
stored per 1 volt.
1F = 1C / 1V
Henry (H)
Henry is the unit of inductance.
1H = 1Wb / 1A
Joule (J)
Joule is the unit of energy.
1J = 1 kg 1(m / s)2
Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
Kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy.
1kWh = 1kW 1h = 1000W 1h
Ampere-hour (Ah)
Ampere-hour is a unit of electric charge.

One ampere-hour is the electric charge that flow in electrical circuit, when a current of 1 ampere
is applied for 1 hour.
1Ah = 1A 1hour
One ampere-hour is equal to 3600 coulombs.
1Ah = 3600C
Tesla (T)
Tesla is the unit of magnetic field.
1T = 1Wb / 1m2
Weber (Wb)
Weber is the unit of magnetic flux.
1Wb = 1V 1s
Kilovolt-amps (kVA)
Kilovolt-amps is a unit of power.
1kVA = 1kV 1A = 1000 1V 1A
Decibel-milliwatt (dBm)
Decibel-milliwatt or dBm is a unit of electric power, measured with logarithmic scale referenced
to 1mW.
10dBm = 10 log10(10mW / 1mW)
Decibel-Watt (dBW)
Decibel-watt or dBW is a unit of electric power, measured with logarithmic scale referenced to
1W.
10dBW = 10 log10(10W / 1W)
siemens (S)
siemens is the unit of conductance, which is the opposite of resistance.
1S = 1 / 1

Coulomb (C)
Coulomb is the unit of electric charge.
1C = 6.2387921018 electron charges
Hertz (Hz)
Hertz is the unit of frequency. It measures the number of cycles per second.
1 Hz = 1 cycles / s

Ampere - A

An ampere is the current which - if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite
length - of negligible circular cross section, and placed 1 meter apart in vacuum, would produce
between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10-7 Newton per meter of length.
Electric current is the same as electric quantity in movement, or quantity per unit time:
I=Q/t

(1)

where
I = electric current (ampere, A)
Q = electric quantity (coulomb, C)
t = time (s)

1 ampere = 1 coulomb per sec.

Ampere can be measured with an "ammeter" in series with the electric circuit.

Coulomb - C
The standard unit of quantity in electrical measurements. It is the quantity of electricity conveyed
in one second by the current produced by an electro-motive force of one volt acting in a circuit
having a resistance of one ohm, or the quantity transferred by one ampere in one second.
Q=It

(2)
1 coulomb = 6.24 1018 electrons

Farad - F
The farad is the standard unit of capacitance. Reduced to base SI units one farad is the equivalent
of one second to the fourth power ampere squared per kilogram per meter squared (s4 A2/kg m2).
When the voltage across a 1 F capacitor changes at a rate of one volt per second (1 V/s) a current
flow of 1 A results. A capacitance of 1 F produces 1 V of potential difference for an electric
charge of one coulomb (1 C).
In common electrical and electronic circuits units of microfarads F (1 F = 10-6 F)
and picofarads pF (1 pF = 10-12 F) are used.

Ohm -
The derived SI unit of electrical resistance - the resistance between two points on a conductor
when a constant potential difference of 1 volt between them produces a current of 1 ampere.

Henry - H
The Henry is the unit of inductance. Reduced to base SI units one henry is the equivalent of one
kilogram meter squared per second squared per ampere squared (kg m2 s-2 A-2).

Inductance
An inductor is a passive electronic component that stores energy in the form of a magnetic field.
The standard unit of inductance is the henry abbreviated H. This is a large unit and more
commonly used units are the microhenry abbreviated H (1 H =10-6H) and the millihenry
abbreviated mH (1 mH =10-3 H). Occasionally, the nanohenry abbreviated nH (1 nH = 10-9 H) is
used.

Joule - J
The unit of energy work or quantity of heat done when a force of one Newton is applied over a
displacement of one meter. One joule is the equivalent of one watt of power radiated or
dissipated for one second.
In imperial units the British Thermal Unit (Btu) is used to express energy. One Btu is equivalent
to approximately 1,055 joules.

Siemens - S
The unit of electrical conductance S = A / V
Watt
The watt is used to specify the rate at which electrical energy is dissipated, or the rate at which
electromagnetic energy is radiated, absorbed, or dissipated.
The unit of power W or Joule/second

Weber - Wb
The unit of magnetic flux.
The flux that when linking a circuit of one turn, produces an Electro Motive Force - EMF - of 1
volt as it is reduced to zero at a uniform rate in one second.

1 Weber is equivalent to 108 Maxwells

Tesla - T
The unit of magnetic flux density the Tesla is equal to 1 Weber per square meter of circuit area.

Volt
The Volt - V - is the Standard International (SI) unit of electric potential or electromotive force. A
potential of one volt appears across a resistance of one ohmwhen a current of one ampere flows
through that resistance.
Reduced to SI base units,
1 (V) = 1 (kg m2 / s3 A)
A "voltmeter" can be used to measure voltage and mus be connected in parallel with the part of
the circuit whose voltage is required.