pC
picocoulomb
Electric chargeexact by definition
The picocoulomb is 10⁻¹² of a coulomb. It is the unit of piezoelectric sensor output, where an accelerometer's sensitivity is specified in picocoulombs per g, and of partial discharge testing, where IEC 60270 measures the apparent charge of each discharge event in picocoulombs. The factor is exact, being an SI prefix.
Watch out: Partial discharge acceptance limits are often single-digit picocoulombs for medium-voltage cable and switchgear, which is why the measurement demands a shielded, well-grounded test setup. Corona from a sharp edge elsewhere in the room will register as though it came from the sample.
| 1 pC | 1.0000000e-12 C |
Solvers that use electric charge