Live Converter
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Enter your value above to convert watts to picowatts or vice versa.
Real-World Examples
The Uses of Watts to Picowatts Conversion
Overall link-budget figures given in watts often need to be converted into picowatts when specifying radio telescope sensitivity or deep-space signal strength.
Translating Picowatt Signal Specs to Link Budget Watts
Satellite communication engineers who read a deep-space probe's picowatt-scale signal power convert it into watts to incorporate the figure into an overall link-budget calculation.
Scaling Radio Telescope Sensitivity to Picowatt Specs
Radio astronomers who know a receiver's noise power in watts convert it into picowatts to match the fine-grained units conventionally used in telescope sensitivity specifications.
Checking RF Receiver Noise Floors Against Picowatt Targets
RF system designers who set a target noise floor in picowatts convert it into watts to verify the figure against an overall receiver power budget.
Quick Reference
Comprehensive Conversion Table
Our quick table gives you instant results, so you don't have to calculate these common values manually.
| Conversion | Formula | Result (pW) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 W to pW | 1 × 1000000000000.0 | 1,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
| 2 W to pW | 2 × 1000000000000.0 | 2,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
| 3 W to pW | 3 × 1000000000000.0 | 3,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
| 5 W to pW | 5 × 1000000000000.0 | 5,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
| 10 W to pW | 10 × 1000000000000.0 | 10,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
| 20 W to pW | 20 × 1000000000000.0 | 20,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
| 50 W to pW | 50 × 1000000000000.0 | 50,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
| 100 W to pW | 100 × 1000000000000.0 | 100,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
| 500 W to pW | 500 × 1000000000000.0 | 500,000,000,000,000.00 pW |
Got Questions?
Frequently Asked Questions
What's a quick way to size up what 1 watt means in picowatts?
It helps to know that 1 watt comes out to roughly 1e+12 picowatts, which puts the size of a single watt into perspective against the picowatt.
How many watts make up 1 picowatt?
It takes exactly 1e-12 watts to equal 1 picowatt, a ratio worth knowing when working at the RF receiver sensitivity and astronomical signal power scale.
Why are faint signals measured in picowatts?
Picowatts give a precise, practical figure for the extraordinarily faint signals received from deep space or picked up by sensitive radio telescopes, where even a nanowatt would already be a comparatively strong signal.
How many picowatts does it take to add up to 1 watt?
It takes exactly 1,000,000,000,000 picowatts combined to equal a single watt, a ratio worth knowing when analyzing an extremely faint received signal.