Convert Milliwatts to Petawatts
Convert Milliwatts (mW) to Petawatts (PW) instantly and accurately.
Conversion Formula
PW = mW × 1.000000000e-18
About Milliwatts
A milliwatt (mW) is 10⁻³ W - the power scale of consumer wireless communications. Wi-Fi access points transmit at 100 mW (20 dBm); mobile phones peak at up to 1,000 mW. A laser pointer emits 1-5 mW; an LED indicator 10 mW; Bluetooth Classic peaks at 100 mW. Standby power implications: 1 mW × 10⁹ devices × 1 year = 8,760 MWh - enough to power a small town, underscoring why milliwatt standby matters at scale. 1 mW = 10⁻³ W.
About Petawatts
A petawatt (PW) is 10¹⁵ W. Total solar power intercepted by Earth is ~174 PW. The world's most powerful laser pulses operate at petawatt peak power via chirped pulse amplification (CPA, 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics): China's SULF demonstrated 10 PW in 2019; ELI-NP targets 10 PW. These PW pulses last femtoseconds and create plasma temperatures of billions of kelvin in laboratory targets. Gamma-ray bursts radiate 10²⁴-10²⁷ W at peak - thousands to billions of times the petawatt scale. 1 PW = 10¹⁵ W.
Quick Reference Table
| Milliwatts (mW) | Petawatts (PW) |
|---|---|
| 1 mW | 1 × 10-18 PW |
| 2 mW | 2 × 10-18 PW |
| 5 mW | 5 × 10-18 PW |
| 10 mW | 1 × 10-17 PW |
| 25 mW | 2.5 × 10-17 PW |
| 50 mW | 5 × 10-17 PW |
| 100 mW | 1 × 10-16 PW |