What is electric field strength?

Electric field strength (E) is the force per unit charge at a point in space: E = F/q, measured in V/m (volts per metre). It tells you how strongly a charge would be pushed at that location. An E-field of 1 V/m means a 1 V potential drop across 1 metre.

What is the dielectric strength of air?

Dry air breaks down (becomes a conductor, causing a spark or arc) at about 3 MV/m = 3 kV/mm at atmospheric pressure. This is why 10 kV can spark across about 3 mm. Dielectric strength increases at higher pressure and decreases at lower pressure (which is why high-altitude power lines have wider clearances).

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Electric Field Strength Converter

Live

From

Sig. figures:

Sci notation

Volt per metre

V/m

1000

Millivolt per metre

mV/m

1.00000e+6

Microvolt per metre

μV/m

1.00000e+9

Kilovolt per metre

kV/m

1(input)

Megavolt per metre

MV/m

0.001

Gigavolt per metre

GV/m

0.000001

Volt per centimetre

V/cm

Kilovolt per centimetre

kV/cm

0.01

Volt per millimetre

V/mm

Kilovolt per millimetre

kV/mm

0.001

Volt per inch

V/in

25.4

Kilovolt per inch

kV/in

0.0254

Volt per foot

V/ft

304.8

Kilovolt per foot

kV/ft

0.3048

Statvolt per centimetre (ESU)

statV/cm

0.0333564

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Convert electric field strength (E-field) across 15 units in SI (μV/m → GV/m), per-cm/mm (V/cm, kV/cm, V/mm, kV/mm), Imperial (V/in, kV/in, V/ft, kV/ft), and CGS (statV/cm ≈ 29,979 V/m). Reference: air dielectric strength ≈ 3 MV/m; PTFE ≈ 20 MV/m; thunderstorm 10–100 kV/m. 100% browser-based.

How to Use

1Type an electric field strength value (e.g. 1 for 1 kV/m)
2Select your starting unit (e.g. V/m, kV/m, MV/m, V/cm, statV/cm)
3Select your target unit - the result appears instantly
4All 15 conversions appear across SI, Per cm/mm, Imperial, and CGS groups
5Hover any row to copy or use as input; click ⇄ to swap
6Open 'Electric field reference values' for breakdown and atmospheric field data

Features

15 electric field strength units: V/m to GV/m, V/cm, kV/cm, V/mm, kV/mm, V/in, kV/in, V/ft, kV/ft, statV/cm
Groups: SI, Per cm/mm, Imperial, CGS (ESU)
Reference: air breakdown, PTFE, thunderstorm, fair-weather field
Adjustable significant figures and scientific notation toggle
One-click copy per result
100% browser-based

Electric Field Strength Converter

How to Use

Features

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