Inductance Conversion

What is an Inductor? What is Inductance?

Inductance is the tendency of an electrical conductor to oppose a change in the electric current flowing through it. It does this by creating a voltage (electromotive force) across the conductor.

The concept was coined by Oliver Heaviside in February 1886. The SI unit for inductance is the Henry (H), named after Joseph Henry.

• Definition of 1 Henry: A circuit has an inductance of one henry when an electric current changing at the rate of one ampere per second results in an induced voltage of one volt.

Inductance Formula

The relationship between induced voltage and current change is defined by the following formula:

$V = L \times \frac{di}{dt}$

Where:

• $V$: The induced voltage (Electromotive Force) in Volts.
• $L$: Inductance in Henries (H).
• $di$: The change in current in Amperes.
• $dt$: The time interval in which the current changes (Seconds).

Common Units of Measurement

While the Henry (H) is the standard unit, it is quite large for most electronics. We typically use prefixes to measure smaller values:

• Millihenry (mH): $10^{-3}$ H (Common in power supplies)
• Microhenry ($\mu$H): $10^{-6}$ H (Common in DC-DC converters)
• Nanohenry (nH): ${10}^{-}$ H (Common in high-frequency RF circuits)

Inductance Conversion Chart (pH, nH, µH, mH)

Below is a quick reference for converting between the most common inductance values.

Unit	Value in Henry (H)	Conversion Example
Picohenry (pH)	$10^{-12}$ H	1,000 pH = 1 nH
Nanohenry (nH)	$10^{-9}$ H	1,000 nH = 1 $\mu$H

Comprehensive List of Units & Abbreviations

A complete list of inductance units used in various scientific fields.

Unit Name	Symbol	Unit Name	Symbol
Henry	H	Exahenry	EH
Millihenry	mH	Petahenry	PH
Microhenry	$\mu$H	Terahenry	TH
Nanohenry	nH	Gigahenry	GH
Picohenry	pH	Megahenry	MH
Femtohenry	fH	Kilohenry	kH
Attohenry	aH	Hectohenry	hH
Weber per Ampere	Wb/A	Dekahenry	daH
Abhenry	abH	Decihenry	dH
Stathenry	stH	Centihenry	cH