About

In the fields of biochemistry, anesthesiology, and analytical science, the distinction between a milligram (mg) and a microgram (mcg or μg) is critical. A microgram is one-thousandth of a milligram. Confusing these units - an error known as a "1000-fold overdose" - is a well-documented cause of adverse medical events.

This tool is designed with safety and clarity as the priority. It instantly converts mg inputs to micrograms, handling the factor of 1000 seamlessly. To prevent reading errors, the interface clearly displays the output with the standard medical abbreviation "mcg" as well as the scientific symbol "μg", ensuring the result is understood regardless of the user's notation preference.

Formulas

The prefix "milli-" (10^-3) is 1,000 times larger than "micro-" (10^-6). Therefore, to convert from milligrams to micrograms, multiply the value by 1,000.

m_(μg) = m_(mg) × 1,000

Reference Data

Milligrams (mg)	Micrograms (μg / mcg)	Visual Scale
0.001 mg	1 mcg	Dust particle weight
0.01 mg	10 mcg	Trace element
0.1 mg	100 mcg	Folic Acid dose
1 mg	1,000 mcg	Standard threshold
5 mg	5,000 mcg	Common Biotin dose
10 mg	10,000 mcg	Clinical dose

Frequently Asked Questions

They are the exact same unit. "ug" is often used when the Greek letter mu (μ) is not available on a keyboard. "mcg" is the preferred abbreviation in medicine to avoid handwriting confusion.

Because the units sound similar but differ by a factor of 1,000. Mistaking 1 mg for 1 mcg results in administering 1,000 times the intended dose.

On most systems, the micro symbol (μ) is hard to type. It is safer to use "mcg" in documentation. In HTML/Web, you can use the entity μ.

The tool uses floating-point arithmetic but displays results up to 2 decimal places by default for readability, unless the number is an integer.