Electric Resistance Converter
Convert between electric resistance units — ohm, kiloohm, megohm, milliohm, microhm, volt/ampere, reciprocal siemens, abohm, statohm, and quantized Hall resistance.
Results from this calculator are estimates provided for general informational purposes only, based on formulas, rates, and standards commonly accepted as of 2026. Figures may differ slightly from other calculators or professional sources due to rounding methods, differing assumptions, or regional regulations, and rules may change over time. Always consult a qualified professional — such as a financial advisor, healthcare provider, or other relevant specialist — before making decisions based on these results.
Result
1 Ω = 0.001 kΩ
1 Ohm = 0.001 Kiloohms
1 Kiloohm = 1000 Ohms
1 Ω in every supported unit
What is an Electric Resistance Converter?
Electric resistance is a measure of how strongly a component or material opposes the flow of electric current when a voltage is applied across it, as described by Ohm's law: resistance equals voltage divided by current (R = V ÷ I). Its SI unit is the ohm (Ω), and every other unit on this page — from the everyday kiloohm and megohm to CGS-era units like the abohm and statohm — is just a different-sized multiple of that same physical quantity. Resistance is different from resistivity, which is a property of the material itself independent of the object's shape or size (see the separate Electric Resistivity Converter for that quantity), and different again from impedance, which extends resistance to alternating-current circuits with reactive components.
This converter is used whenever a resistance figure needs to move between unit scales or conventions — reading a resistor's color-code value in ohms or kiloohms, checking a megohmmeter's insulation-resistance reading, converting a datasheet's milliohm or microhm shunt value into a more familiar scale, or translating older physics literature that expressed resistance in CGS units like the abohm or statohm into the modern ohm. Every unit below is defined relative to the ohm, so any two resistance units — modern or historical — can be converted directly and consistently.
Conversion chart: Ohm to Kiloohms
Conversion table
| Ohm (Ω) | Kiloohm (kΩ) |
|---|---|
| 0.01 Ω | 1E-05 kΩ |
| 0.1 Ω | 0.0001 kΩ |
| 1 Ω | 0.001 kΩ |
| 2 Ω | 0.002 kΩ |
| 3 Ω | 0.003 kΩ |
| 5 Ω | 0.005 kΩ |
| 10 Ω | 0.01 kΩ |
| 20 Ω | 0.02 kΩ |
| 50 Ω | 0.05 kΩ |
| 100 Ω | 0.1 kΩ |
| 1000 Ω | 1 kΩ |
Supported Units
| Unit | Symbol | In Ohm |
|---|---|---|
| Ohm | Ω | 1 Ω |
| Kiloohm | kΩ | 1000 Ω |
| Megohm | MΩ | 1000000 Ω |
| Milliohm | mΩ | 0.001 Ω |
| Microhm | μΩ | 1E-06 Ω |
| Volt/Ampere | V/A | 1 Ω |
| Reciprocal Siemens | 1/S | 1 Ω |
| Abohm | abΩ | 1E-09 Ω |
| EMU of Resistance | EMU | 1E-09 Ω |
| Statohm | statΩ | 8.98755E+11 Ω |
| ESU of Resistance | ESU | 8.98755E+11 Ω |
| Quantized Hall Resistance | R_K | 25812.807 Ω |
About These Parameters
- Value
- The electric resistance value you want to convert, expressed in the "From" unit. Accepts decimals, and can represent anything from a microhm-scale connector contact resistance to a megohm-scale insulation-resistance reading.
- From Unit
- The unit your input value is currently measured in — a resistor's printed ohm or kiloohm rating, a megohmmeter's insulation reading, or an older figure quoted in a CGS unit like the abohm or statohm.
- To Unit
- The unit you want the result converted into. Use the swap button to flip From and To instantly, which is handy when moving between a datasheet's units and the ones used in your own calculations.
How Electric Resistance Conversion Works
The Formula
Every unit here is defined by a fixed multiplier relative to the ohm. To convert a value from one unit to another:
result = value × (factor of "From" unit ÷ factor of "To" unit)
For Ohm → Kiloohm: multiply by 0.001. For example, 1 Ω × 0.001 = 0.001 kΩ.
Ohm's Law and the Origin of the Ohm
Georg Simon Ohm published his now-famous law in 1827, showing that the current through a conductor is directly proportional to the voltage across it and inversely proportional to its resistance — a relationship so fundamental that essentially every electrical calculation traces back to it. At the time his work was met with skepticism and largely ignored by the German physics establishment; recognition came only later, and it wasn't until the International Electrical Congress of 1881 that "ohm" was formally adopted as the name of the resistance unit, defined so that one ohm is the resistance that lets one ampere flow when one volt is applied. Every SI multiple on this page — from milliohm up through megohm — is simply that same unit scaled by a power of ten for convenience.
Why CGS Resistance Units Still Appear
Before the SI system unified electrical units around the ampere, 19th-century physicists worked with two parallel centimeter-gram-second (CGS) systems: the electromagnetic (EMU) system, which gave us the abohm, and the electrostatic (ESU) system, which gave us the statohm — a unit so much larger than the ohm that it differs by a factor tied to the speed of light. Both systems were mathematically elegant for theoretical physics but impractical for engineering, which is why they were eventually superseded by the ampere-based SI units used almost everywhere today. They still turn up when reading historical electromagnetism papers or textbooks written in Gaussian units.
Example
An electric resistance of 1 Ω equals 0.001 kΩ. For scale, a typical carbon-film resistor might be rated between 100 ohms and a few megohms, a copper shunt used for current sensing might measure just a few milliohms, and a healthy insulation-resistance test on household wiring should read well into the megohms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between resistance and resistivity?
Resistance (measured in ohms) depends on a specific object's shape — its length and cross-sectional area — as well as the material it's made of. Resistivity (measured in ohm-meters) is a pure material property that stays the same regardless of the object's dimensions. Two wires of the same copper have the same resistivity, but a longer or thinner wire will have higher resistance. See the separate Electric Resistivity Converter for that quantity.
Is volt/ampere the same thing as an ohm?
Yes — they're numerically and dimensionally identical. The ohm is simply the named SI unit for the quantity that Ohm's law defines as voltage divided by current, so 1 V/A always equals exactly 1 Ω.
Why is the statohm so much larger than the ohm?
The statohm comes from the CGS electrostatic (ESU) unit system, which was built directly from Coulomb's law rather than the ampere-based definitions SI units use. The huge gap between the statohm and the ohm — roughly a factor of 9×10¹¹ — traces back to a conversion constant related to the speed of light that separates the electrostatic and electromagnetic CGS unit families.
What is quantized Hall resistance used for?
It's a fundamental resistance value, R_K = h/e², that appears as extremely precise, naturally quantized plateaus in the quantum Hall effect. Since 1990, national metrology institutes have used a fixed conventional value of this constant (25,812.807 ohms) as the international standard for calibrating precision resistance measurements, because it's far more reproducible than any physical resistor.