Electric Conductivity Converter
Convert electrical conductivity, how well a material conducts current, between siemens per meter, mho per meter, mho per centimeter, picosiemens per meter and the CGS abmho and statmho units. Pick two units, enter a value and read the result instantly.
Select two units to see the conversion factor.
This tool converts electrical conductivity (S/m) only. It is not thermal conductivity (W/(m·K)), not conductance (S) and not resistivity (Ω·m).
Electric Conductivity Formula
Conductivity links the conductance of a uniform conductor to its shape: σ = G × L ÷ A, in S/m, and it is the reciprocal of resistivity, σ = 1 ÷ ρ. Every unit is a fixed multiple of S/m. Result = value × (source factor ÷ target factor). Exact building blocks: 1 mho = 1 S, 1 mho/cm = 100 S/m, 1 pS = 10⁻¹² S, 1 abmho = 10⁹ S, and 1 statmho = 1 ÷ (c² × 10⁻⁵) S ≈ 1.11265 × 10⁻¹² S.
What Is Electrical Conductivity?
Electrical conductivity, written σ (sigma), is a material property that tells how readily the material carries electric current. It is the conductance of a piece of material one meter long with a cross-section of one square meter, so its SI unit is the siemens per meter (S/m). It is the reciprocal of resistivity: σ = 1 ÷ ρ. Metals are excellent conductors (copper is about 5.96 × 10⁷ S/m), seawater is a moderate ionic conductor (about 5 S/m), drinking water is a poor one (roughly 0.005 to 0.05 S/m) and insulators such as glass and plastics sit down at picosiemens per meter or lower.
Conductivity appears in the point form of Ohm’s law, J = σ × E: the current density in a material is the conductivity times the electric field. The conductance of a uniform wire follows from it as G = σ × A ÷ L.
The units reflect different fields. Metals and wiring use S/m. Chemists and water-quality meters use S/cm (written “mho/cm” in the older style), often in µS/cm or mS/cm; 1 mho/cm is 100 S/m. Insulation and dielectric specialists use picosiemens per meter (pS/m), common for fuels and oils, where fuel conductivity limits are quoted in pS/m. The abmho and statmho per meter or centimeter are the CGS electromagnetic and electrostatic units.
Do not confuse conductivity with related quantities. Conductance (S) is a property of a specific object (Electric Conductance Converter). Resistivity (Ω·m) is the reciprocal (Electric Resistivity Converter). And thermal conductivity, in W/(m·K), describes heat flow and is a completely different quantity (Thermal Conductivity Converter).
Supported Units
This converter supports the following 8 electric conductivity units. The last column gives the value of each unit in the base unit, S/m. The mho per meter equals the siemens per meter, and the mho per centimeter is 100 times larger.
| Unit | Symbol | Value in S/m |
|---|---|---|
| Siemens per meter | S/m | 1 |
| Picosiemens per meter | pS/m | 1e-12 |
| Mho per meter | mho/m | 1 |
| Mho per centimeter | mho/cm | 100 |
| Abmho per meter | abmho/m | 1,000,000,000 |
| Abmho per centimeter | abmho/cm | 100,000,000,000 |
| Statmho per meter | statmho/m | 1.112650056e-12 |
| Statmho per centimeter | statmho/cm | 1.112650056e-10 |
How to Use the Electric Conductivity Converter
- Type the electric conductivity in the value box. Decimals and scientific notation such as 0.0025 or 2.5e-3 are accepted.
- Choose the From unit and the To unit.
- The result appears instantly, or press Convert Now. Very large or very small results are shown in scientific notation.
- Use Swap Units to reverse the conversion, Copy Result to copy the answer, open Show this value in all units for a full list, and Clear to start again.
Step-by-step by hand
- Find the size of each unit in the common base unit (S/m): 1 S/m = 1 S/m and 1 mho/cm = 100 S/m.
- Divide the source size by the target size to get the conversion factor: 1 ÷ 100 = 0.01, so 1 S/m = 0.01 mho/cm.
- Multiply by your value: 59,600,000 S/m × 0.01 = 596,000 mho/cm.
Conductivity cannot be negative, so only zero and positive numbers are accepted.
Common Conductivity Conversions
- Copper: 5.96 × 10⁷ S/m equals 596,000 mho/cm.
- Seawater: about 5 S/m equals 0.05 mho/cm.
- Drinking water: 0.05 S/m equals 0.0005 mho/cm, which is 500 µS/cm.
- Fuel conductivity: 100 pS/m equals 1e-10 S/m.
- Mho per meter: 7 mho/m equals 7 S/m.
- CGS to SI: 1 abmho/cm equals 100,000,000,000 S/m, and 1 statmho/cm equals 1.112650056e-10 S/m.
Siemens per Meter to Other Conductivity Units
Quick reference for frequently used values
| S/m | mho/cm | pS/m | abmho/m |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1e-6 | 1e-8 | 1,000,000 | 1e-15 |
| 0.05 | 0.0005 | 50,000,000,000 | 5e-11 |
| 1 | 0.01 | 1e+12 | 1e-9 |
| 5 | 0.05 | 5e+12 | 5e-9 |
| 100 | 1 | 1e+14 | 1e-7 |
| 1,000 | 10 | 1e+15 | 1e-6 |
| 59,600,000 | 596,000 | 5.96e+19 | 0.0596 |
Where and Why This Conversion Is Used
- Materials and metallurgy: comparing metals and alloys, and expressing conductivity as a percentage of copper.
- Water quality and chemistry: probes and meters read S/cm (µS/cm or mS/cm); engineering data use S/m.
- Fuel and insulation safety: conductivity of fuels and oils in pS/m to control static build-up.
- Geophysics and soil science: ground conductivity surveys and earthing design.
- Physics education: moving between SI and Gaussian or electromagnetic CGS units.
Limitations
- Conductivity depends on temperature. Water readings are normally referred to 25 °C, and a unit conversion does not correct for it.
- Only the listed units are offered. For µS/cm or mS/cm, multiply the value by 10⁻⁶ or 10⁻³ and enter it in mho/cm.
Important Differences Between Related Electrical Measurements
- Conductivity, S/m is a material property. Conductance, S belongs to one object. A wire’s conductance falls as it gets longer; the conductivity of its copper stays the same.
- Conductivity vs resistivity: they are reciprocals, σ = 1 ÷ ρ. Copper at 1.68 × 10⁻⁸ Ω·m has σ of about 5.95 × 10⁷ S/m.
- Electrical vs thermal conductivity: S/m measures electric current, W/(m·K) measures heat flow. In metals the two track each other (the Wiedemann–Franz law), but they have different units and different values, and diamond is a famous exception: it conducts heat extremely well and electricity very poorly.
- S/m vs S/cm: both are conductivity. Because 1 m = 100 cm, a value in S/cm is 100 times smaller than the same conductivity in S/m.
Each converter on this site changes units within one quantity only, and none of them mixes quantities. The related tools are: Charge, Current, Linear Charge Density, Surface Charge Density, Volume Charge Density, Linear Current Density, Surface Current Density, Electric Field Strength, Electric Potential, Electric Resistance, Electric Resistivity, Electric Conductance, Electric Conductivity, Electrostatic Capacitance and Inductance.