What are multiple units for: milliamperes and microamperes, how to convert 1000 μA to A

The problem of converting units of measurement of certain physical quantities into a convenient format arises for most people who actively use electronic equipment at work and at home. Most devices operate on electricity, which must be connected to a device with certain parameters, in the right amount to ensure operation in a safe mode. Therefore, the question of converting mA or μA to amperes is of practical importance.

Formula for calculating current

One of the main parameters is the amount of current consumed by the device. However, many users whose main activity is not at all related to electrical engineering, find it difficult to quickly answer simple questions about how many milliamps are in ampere and how to convert microamperes to amperes. Within the framework of the school physics course, all this "passed", but over the years, part of the knowledge gained is naturally forgotten, so a reminder of the basic definitions will not be superfluous.

Electric current is the collective movement of charged particles - electrons or ions - in a particular medium (solid, liquid or gas). The magnitude of the current is equal to the number of charges crossing the cross section of the conductor perpendicular to the flow of particles per unit time:

I = Q / T, where I is current, Q is charge, T is time.

Units

In Russia, the International System of Units (SI), adopted in 1960, is widely used. at General Conference on Weights and Measures. There are only seven system-forming basic physical quantities in the SI system:

• electric current - I (ampere, denoted by a capital letter A in honor of the French researcher André-Marie Ampere (1775−1836), who made a great contribution to the study electromagnetic phenomena;
• length - L (meter, m);
• time - T (second, s);
• weight - M (kilogram, kg);
• thermodynamic temperature - q (kelvin, K);
• luminous intensity - J (candela, cd);
• the amount of substance is N (mol).

Any other physical quantities are combinations of the basic ones. For example, volume - L³ (cubic meter, m³). The current strength in electrical engineering is allowed to be determined using Ohm's law and derived units - voltage (U, volts) and resistance (R, ohm): I = U / R.

Methods for converting the magnitude of the current

For modern energy-intensive household devices, currents of several amperes or more are quite working, and the use of this unit of measurement is not difficult. More economical devices include:

• Computers;
• Laptops;
• Smartphones and regular mobile phones;
• MP3 players, set-top boxes;
• LCD - lighting equipment;
• LCD - video devices (monitors, TVs);
• Tablets;
• Electronic books;
• Navigators;
• Video recorders.

Typical consumption currents of these devices range from tens to hundreds of milliamperes. To correctly convert amperes to milliamps, rememberthat the prefix "milli" means one thousandth of the base unit. As a numerical factor, you can use either 10^-3, or 0.001. The use of such a multiple or fractional unit is quite acceptable and legalized in domestic legislation in the form of GOST 8 .417-2002 “Interstate standard. Units of quantities ".

The abbreviated designation of the prefix "milli" in the Russian version is "m", in the international version - "m". Thus, it is perfectly clear that 1000 milliamperes equals 1 ampere.

How to convert μA to amperes

Researchers and developers are working to create new devices that consume even lower currents, for which milliamperes may be too large a unit. Then the next multiple unit will be useful - "micro", meaning one millionth of the base unit. Numeric factor in the format 10^-6 more convenient to write than decimal representation with many zeros. The abbreviated name of the prefix "micro" in the Russian version is "mk".

Thus, to convert the value of current in μA to amperes, you just need to divide its value by 1,000,000 (or multiply by 10^-6). Conversely, to convert the value in amperes to μA, you must either multiply by 1,000,000 or divide by 10^-6.

Using online calculators

Another way to quickly and error-free converting mA (or μA) to amperes and vice versa provide online calculators, which are offered by numerous electrical sites subject. Using such calculators is extremely simple: the known value of the current in amperes (mA, μA) is substituted into the text field on the monitor desktop, marked with the appropriate unit. After that, the value in the units required for the calculation will appear in the adjacent graph.

Technological progress and the emergence of new technologies in the near future will make it possible to create devices with much lower power consumption, in which the currents will be ten times less than the current values.

Thus, the following, in decreasing order, multiple unit "nano" will be in demand, equal to one billionth part of the basic unit or, in numerical terms, 10^-9. So you need to prepare for this, but for now you can practice using microamperes.