Convert Picofarads to Abfarads
Picofarad (pF) to Abfarad (abF) electrostatic capacitance conversion — enter any value below to get an instant result, or use the table for common values.
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 pF = 1E-21 abF
1 Picofarad = 1E-21 Abfarads
1 Abfarad = 1E+21 Picofarads
1 pF in every supported unit
Conversion chart: Picofarad to Abfarads
Conversion table
| Picofarad (pF) | Abfarad (abF) |
|---|---|
| 0.01 pF | 1E-23 abF |
| 0.1 pF | 1E-22 abF |
| 1 pF | 1E-21 abF |
| 2 pF | 2E-21 abF |
| 3 pF | 3E-21 abF |
| 5 pF | 5E-21 abF |
| 10 pF | 1E-20 abF |
| 20 pF | 2E-20 abF |
| 50 pF | 5E-20 abF |
| 100 pF | 1E-19 abF |
| 1000 pF | 1E-18 abF |
Picofarad (pF)
Definition: One trillionth of a farad (1 pF = 0.000000000001 F), the standard unit for the very small capacitance values found in high-frequency and RF circuits.
History: It became essential as radio, television, and later high-speed digital electronics required components far smaller than a nanofarad, with the "pico-" (10⁻¹²) prefix supplying the needed resolution.
Current use: The default rating for small ceramic disc capacitors, trimmer capacitors, and the parasitic capacitance of PCB traces and semiconductor junctions — critical in RF tuning circuits, oscillators, and signal-integrity analysis.
Abfarad (abF)
Definition: The unit of capacitance in the CGS electromagnetic (emu) system, equal to one billion farads (1 abF = 10⁹ F) — an enormous unit far beyond any real-world capacitor.
History: It is part of the centimeter-gram-second (CGS) electromagnetic system developed in the 19th century by physicists including Gauss and Weber, before the SI system consolidated electrical units around the farad, volt, and ampere.
Current use: Almost entirely obsolete outside historical physics literature and CGS-based theoretical work; retained here mainly for translating older scientific papers that still express capacitance in electromagnetic units.
Supported Units
| Unit | Symbol | In Farad |
|---|---|---|
| Farad | F | 1 F |
| Kilofarad | kF | 1000 F |
| Millifarad | mF | 0.001 F |
| Microfarad | µF | 1E-06 F |
| Nanofarad | nF | 1E-09 F |
| Picofarad | pF | 1E-12 F |
| Femtofarad | fF | 1E-15 F |
| Abfarad | abF | 1E+09 F |
| Statfarad | statF | 1.11265E-12 F |
| Coulomb/Volt | C/V | 1 F |
About These Parameters
- Value
- The capacitance value you want to convert, expressed in the "From" unit. Accepts decimals, and can represent anything from a tiny on-chip femtofarad parasitic to a supercapacitor's multi-farad rating.
- From Unit
- The unit your input value is currently measured in — a component datasheet's microfarad or picofarad rating, or a historical figure quoted in abfarads or statfarads from the older CGS unit systems.
- To Unit
- The unit you want the result converted into. Use the swap button to flip From and To instantly, handy when translating a datasheet value into a different SI-prefixed scale or back to the base farad.
How Electrostatic Capacitance Conversion Works
The Formula
Every unit here is defined by a fixed multiplier relative to the farad. To convert a value from one unit to another:
result = value × (factor of "From" unit ÷ factor of "To" unit)
For Picofarad → Abfarad: multiply by 1E-21. For example, 1 pF × 1E-21 = 1E-21 abF.
Why Capacitors Are Rated in Such Tiny Units
A farad is a physically enormous amount of capacitance — building one from ordinary capacitor materials would require plates with impractically large surface area or an impossibly thin dielectric gap. Real components instead need only a fraction of a farad to do their job: filtering ripple out of a power supply, coupling an audio signal between amplifier stages, or tuning a radio circuit to a specific frequency. That's why the practical range of everyday capacitors spans from a few picofarads (a tiny RF trimmer) up to a few thousand microfarads (a large electrolytic filter capacitor) — several orders of magnitude, but still nowhere close to a full farad. Only specialized supercapacitors, built with exotic high-surface-area electrode materials, actually reach into the farad range.
SI Farads vs. CGS Abfarads and Statfarads
Before the SI system unified electrical units around the farad, volt, and ampere, 19th-century physicists worked in the centimeter-gram-second (CGS) system, which split into two competing branches: the electromagnetic (emu) branch, whose capacitance unit is the abfarad (equal to a massive one billion farads), and the electrostatic (esu) branch, whose unit is the statfarad (equal to a tiny 1.1127 picofarads). The huge gap between those two CGS units — roughly 21 orders of magnitude — comes from the same speed-of-light-squared relationship that links the esu and emu systems throughout classical electromagnetism. Modern electronics almost never uses either one directly, but they still turn up when translating older theoretical physics texts into today's farad-based units.
Example
A capacitance of 1 pF equals 1E-21 abF. For scale, a small ceramic capacitor on a circuit board might be rated around 100 picofarads, a typical electrolytic filter capacitor in a power supply might be 1,000 microfarads, and a modern supercapacitor module can reach several farads or more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Abfarads are in 1 Picofarad?
1 Picofarad (pF) equals exactly 1E-21 Abfarads (abF).
Why are capacitors almost never rated in whole farads?
A farad is an enormous unit of capacitance relative to what ordinary capacitor materials can practically achieve — a real one-farad capacitor would need to be physically large. Everyday circuits only need a small fraction of a farad to filter, couple, or tune signals, so components are rated in millifarads, microfarads, nanofarads, or picofarads instead. Only specialized supercapacitors, built for bulk energy storage, are rated in farads or higher.
Is coulomb/volt the same thing as a farad?
Yes — they're mathematically identical. The farad is defined as exactly one coulomb of stored charge per volt of potential difference (1 F = 1 C/V), so expressing a capacitance in coulombs per volt gives the exact same numeric value as expressing it in farads.
Why is the statfarad so much smaller than the abfarad?
Both come from the older centimeter-gram-second (CGS) system, but from opposite branches: the abfarad is a CGS electromagnetic (emu) unit, while the statfarad is a CGS electrostatic (esu) unit. The two branches are related by the speed of light squared, which is why the abfarad (10⁹ farads) and statfarad (about 1.1127 × 10⁻¹² farads) sit roughly 21 orders of magnitude apart despite both measuring capacitance.
What's a typical capacitance value for common electronics?
It depends heavily on the application: RF and timing circuits often use picofarad to nanofarad capacitors, general-purpose filtering and coupling capacitors commonly range from nanofarads to a few microfarads, and power-supply smoothing capacitors typically run from tens to thousands of microfarads. Farad-scale capacitance is reserved almost entirely for supercapacitors used in bulk energy storage.