Milliamps and amps are the units used worldwide to measure the strength of electrical current.

Ampere is the base unit used to measure electrical current in the International System of Units. A milliampere is a modified version of the ampere used to measure things with small amounts of electrical current, so you don’t need to record to a small decimal or resort to exponents.

We’ll teach you everything you need to know about amps, milliamps, and how to convert them.

What is a milliampere?

A milliampere (mA) is one thousandth of an ampere. The prefix “milli” means one-thousandth of whatever base unit comes before it. Milli-amperes are used to measure small amounts of electric current, which makes it easier than using small decimals of amps.

If you want to convert Wh to mAh, use this formula:

mAh = Wh/(V x 1,000)

For example, a 5Wh battery at 5 volts:

mAh = 5/(5 x 1,000) = 1,000 mAh

What is an ampere?

An ampere or amp (A) is the basic unit for measuring electric current in the International System of Units (SI), so it is used worldwide to measure power. It was named after the famous French physicist Andre Marie Ampere.

Since amperes are units of power and power is the product of current and voltage, if you know your watts and voltage you can easily calculate your amperes using the expression below.

Amps = Watts/Volts (A=W/V)

Battery capacity is often recorded in watt-hours (Wh), or the number of watts used in an hour, rather than amp-hours. While you can record battery capacity in amp-hours (Ah), most of the devices we use are reported in W and kW, making it easier for consumers to understand when we’re talking about Wh or Report capacity in kWh.

How do you convert mA to Amps?

Since a mA or milliampere is one thousandth of an amp, simply divide your mA by 1000.

A = mA/1000

For example, if you have 20mA:

A = 20mA/1000(mA/A) = 0.02A

Or, for 2000mA:

A = 2000mA/1000(mA/A) = 2A

Frequently Asked Questions
How many amps is 50 mA?
Since a milliampere (mA) is one-thousandth of an amp, divide mA by 1000 to get amps. In this case, 50/1000 is 0.05 amps.

Is 1 Amp the same as 1000 milliamps?
Yes, 1 amp is equal to 1000 milliamps. This is because a milliamp is one thousandth of an amp. So 1000 milliamps/1000 = 1 amp.

Is 500 milliamps equal to .5 amps?
Yes, 500 milliamps is equal to 0.5 amps because a milliamp is one thousandth of an amp. To convert between the two, divide mA by 1000. Here 500mA/1000ma/A = 0.5A

Final thoughts

Now you know what amperes and milliamperes mean and how to convert between the two. This is very simple because a milliamp is just one thousandth of an amp.

Although amps are the standard (SI) unit for measuring electrical current, we typically report capacity in watt-hours (Wh) and kilowatt-hours (kWh) in products like EcoFlow’s Portable Power Station because our Devices are reported in W and kW. More than just amps, it makes it easy to understand how our products can power your devices.