Unit Converter
Convert between common mass, volume, and concentration units.
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What it does
The Unit Converter switches values between common metric units for mass, volume, and concentration. You pick a category, enter a number, and choose the source and target units. It is a quick helper for anyone handling lab measurements. Because every step is a power of ten, mistakes come almost exclusively from moving the decimal point the wrong way — automating the conversion removes the most common bench arithmetic error.
How it works
All conversions use standard metric prefixes. For mass the scale is g, mg (10^-3 g), μg (10^-6 g), ng (10^-9 g). For volume it is L, mL (10^-3 L), μL (10^-6 L). For concentration it is M, mM (10^-3 M), μM (10^-6 M), nM (10^-9 M). Each step is a power-of-ten multiplication or division, so conversion is exact and unit-consistent. A useful sanity check: converting to a smaller unit must produce a larger number (1 g = 1000 mg), and vice versa. Within this tool's categories the prefix ladder moves three orders of magnitude per step.
Worked example
Convert 2.5 g to mg: 2.5 x 1000 = 2500 mg. Convert 0.05 M to mM: 0.05 x 1000 = 50 mM. Convert 750 mL to L: 750 / 1000 = 0.75 L. A protocol saying 'add 1 µL of 100 mM stock to a 10 mL reaction' gives a final concentration of 100 mM × 1 µL / 10 mL = 10 µM — two independent unit conversions in one line.
When to use it
Use it to rescale a mass from grams to milligrams for a small-scale prep. Use it to switch a concentration between M and mM when reading a protocol. Use it to convert a pipetted volume from mL to μL. Keep it open when adapting a protocol between scales: rescaling a 1 mL reaction to 50 mL multiplies every volume a hundredfold, and a slip of one decimal place ruins the experiment.
FAQ
- How do I convert mg to g and other metric mass units?
- Divide or multiply by powers of ten: 1 g = 1000 mg = 1,000,000 μg = 1,000,000,000 ng. So mg to g means divide by 1000.
- How do I convert between M, mM, and μM?
- Each step is 1000x: 1 M = 1000 mM = 1,000,000 μM = 1,000,000,000 nM. To go from M to μM multiply by 1,000,000.
- Can the unit converter change mL to L?
- Yes, under the volume category: 1 L = 1000 mL, so divide mL by 1000 to get liters, or multiply liters by 1000 to get mL.
- Does the converter handle unit systems other than metric?
- This converter focuses on metric prefixes for mass, volume, and concentration. It does not convert between metric and imperial units.