Farad to Picofarad (F to pF)

Capacitor values are written three different ways, which is where most conversion mistakes start. Small ceramics carry a three-digit code in picofarads: the first two digits are the value, the third is the number of zeros. A capacitor marked 104 is 10 followed by four zeros — 100,000 pF, which is 100 nF, which is 0.1 µF. All three describe the same part.

On older parts and in a lot of American documentation you will see "mfd" or "MFD". That means microfarad, not millifarad — it predates the µ symbol being easy to print. Treating it as millifarads overstates the value by a factor of 1,000.

The scale is strictly decimal: 1 F = 1,000 mF = 1,000,000 µF = 10⁹ nF = 10¹² pF. On this page, 1 F = 1.000000e+12 pF.

Whole farads only show up in supercapacitors and energy-storage parts. If a schematic says 10 F where you expected a decoupling capacitor, it almost certainly means 10 µF.