Field Strength Converter
Our free electrical & magnetic converter handles field strength conversions. See tables, ratios, and examples for quick reference.
Field Strength Converter
Calculator
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Formula: Converted Value = Input x (From Unit Factor / To Unit Factor)
Worked example โ 6000 V/m = 60 V/cm
Formula
Converted Value = Input x (From Unit Factor / To Unit Factor)
Electric field strength measures the force per unit charge in an electric field. All conversions go through the base SI unit of volts per meter (V/m). The conversion factors between units are based on metric prefixes and length unit relationships. Newton per coulomb is dimensionally identical to volt per meter.
Worked Examples
Example 1: Capacitor Field Strength
Problem:A parallel plate capacitor has 12 V across plates separated by 2 mm. What is the electric field strength in V/m and V/cm?
Solution:E = V / d = 12 V / 0.002 m = 6000 V/m Convert to V/cm: 6000 / 100 = 60 V/cm This is well below the breakdown strength of air.
Result:6000 V/m = 60 V/cm
Example 2: Antenna Signal Measurement
Problem:An antenna measures a signal at 500 uV/m. Express this in V/m and dBuV/m.
Solution:500 uV/m = 500 x 10^-6 V/m = 0.0005 V/m dBuV/m = 20 x log10(500) = 20 x 2.699 = 53.98 dBuV/m This is a moderate signal level for FM radio reception.
Result:500 uV/m = 0.0005 V/m = 53.98 dBuV/m
Frequently Asked Questions
What is electric field strength?
Electric field strength is a measure of the force per unit charge experienced by a test charge placed in an electric field. The SI unit is volts per meter (V/m), which is equivalent to newtons per coulomb (N/C). It describes how strongly an electric field can influence charged particles at a given point in space. Higher field strengths mean stronger forces on charges and greater potential differences over short distances.
How do I convert between V/m and V/cm?
To convert from volts per meter (V/m) to volts per centimeter (V/cm), divide by 100 since there are 100 centimeters in a meter. Conversely, multiply V/cm by 100 to get V/m. For example, 500 V/m equals 5 V/cm, and 10 V/cm equals 1000 V/m. This conversion is frequently needed when working with laboratory measurements versus theoretical calculations.
What is the relationship between V/m and N/C?
Volts per meter (V/m) and newtons per coulomb (N/C) are exactly equivalent units for electric field strength. This equivalence comes from the definition of voltage: one volt equals one joule per coulomb, and one joule equals one newton-meter. Therefore V/m = (J/C)/m = (N*m/C)/m = N/C. You can use either unit interchangeably without any conversion factor needed.
What are typical electric field strengths in everyday life?
The atmospheric electric field near the Earth surface is about 100-150 V/m on a fair day. Inside a household power cable, field strengths reach about 100 V/m. The dielectric breakdown of air occurs at roughly 3 million V/m (3 MV/m or 30 kV/cm), which is the field strength at which lightning and sparks form. Inside electronic circuits and capacitors, fields can reach thousands to millions of volts per meter.
What is the difference between electric field strength and electric flux density?
Field strength E is measured in volts per meter and describes force per unit charge. Electric flux density D, also called electric displacement, is measured in coulombs per square meter and describes charge per unit area. They are linked by D = epsilon x E, where epsilon is the permittivity of the medium, equal to the vacuum permittivity of about 8.854 x 10^-12 F/m times the relative permittivity. E changes when you insert a dielectric; D depends only on the free charge.
How is dBuV/m related to microvolts per meter?
The decibel scale used in EMC and radio work is dBuV/m = 20 x log10(E in uV/m), a voltage-style ratio referenced to one microvolt per meter. So 1 uV/m is 0 dBuV/m, 1,000 uV/m is 60 dBuV/m, and 1 V/m equals 1,000,000 uV/m or 120 dBuV/m. Logarithmic units are preferred because field strengths in radiated emission testing span many orders of magnitude across a single frequency sweep.
Why is one statvolt per centimeter equal to 29,979.2458 V/m?
The statvolt is the Gaussian CGS unit of potential, defined so that one statvolt equals 299.792458 volts, a number taken directly from the speed of light in centimeters per second divided by 10^8. Dividing that by one centimeter, or 0.01 m, gives 29,979.2458 V/m. Gaussian units still appear in plasma physics and older electromagnetism texts, so the exact factor matters when you reconcile such sources with SI measurements.
What does the abvolt per centimeter represent?
The abvolt is the electromagnetic CGS unit of potential and equals exactly 10^-8 volts. Spread across one centimeter, it gives 10^-8 / 0.01 = 10^-6 V/m, which is the same magnitude as one microvolt per meter. The EMU system was built around the ampere-defining force between current-carrying wires rather than around charge, so its unit sizes look awkward in SI terms. Expect it mainly in historical magnetics literature.
Which unit should you use when quoting dielectric breakdown strength?
Insulation datasheets normally use kV/mm, while high-voltage engineering often uses kV/cm. They describe the same quantity: the breakdown strength of air at standard conditions is about 3 MV/m, which equals 3 kV/mm or 30 kV/cm. Pick whichever keeps the number in a readable range for your material, and state it explicitly, because a factor-of-ten slip between kV/cm and kV/mm is one of the easiest ways to under-specify an insulating gap.
How does field strength fall off with distance from a point charge?
For an isolated point charge the field follows E = k x Q / r squared, with Coulomb's constant k of about 8.988 x 10^9 N m squared per C squared. Because it is an inverse square law, doubling the distance quarters the field. Between large parallel plates the geometry is different: the field is nearly uniform and given by E = V / d, which is why a capacitor gap and a point charge behave so differently over the same separation.
References
Reviewed for accuracy by Manoj Kumar, Mathematics Educator ยท Editorial policy
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