Appendix D. Units and Prefixes
Units
Table D-1 lists the most common units used in electronics along with the typical ranges of those units you might find in practice.
| Property | Unit | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Current | A (Ampere) | 100nA to 100A |
| Voltage | V (Volt) | 1mV to 1000V |
| Resistance | Ω (Ohm) | 10mΩ to 20MΩ |
| Energy | J (Joule) | 1J to 1MJ |
| Watt | W (Watt) | 1mW to 10kW |
| Capacitance | F (Farad) | 10pF to 10F |
| Inductance | H (Henry) | |
| Frequency | Hz (Hertz) |
sound 20Hz to 20kHz radio 3kHz to 300GHz |
Unit Prefixes
Table D-2 shows the unit prefixes applied to electronic and other units. You will sometimes find R used in place of Ω and u in place of µ.
| Prefix | Multiplier | Scientific |
|---|---|---|
| p (pico) | 1/1,000,000,000,000 | 10E-12 |
| n (nano) | 1/1,000,000,000 | 10E-9 |
| µ (micro) | 1/1,000,000 | 10E-6 |
| m (milli) | 1/1,000 | 10E-3 |
| k (kilo) | 1,000 | 10E3 |
| M (mega) | 1,000,000 | 10E6 |
| G (giga) | 1,000,000,000 | 10E9 |
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