The abhenry (abbreviated abH) is the unit of electromagnetic inductance in the cgs (centimeter/gram/second) system of units. It is equivalent to 10 ^-9 henry . In a 1-abH inductance, a current that increases or decreases at one abampere per second (1 abA/s) will produce an electromotive force (EMF) of one abvolt (1 abV).

It is unusual to see an inductance as large as one henry (1 H) in the real world, but a 1-abH inductance is small, and is not uncommon. In fact, 1 abH is the equivalent of one nanohenry (1 nH), an often-used unit of inductance, especially at ultra-high and microwave radio frequencies. The henry is the standard unit of inductance in the International System of Units ( SI ).

In practical applications, the microhenry (µH) and the nanohenry (nH) are most often used to quantify inductance. For comparison, 1 µH = 10 ^-6 H and 1 nH = 10 ^-9 H. Thus, 1 abH = 0.001 µH = 1 nH.

Also see inductance , henry , cgs or small-unit metric system , and International System of Units ( SI ).

18 Nov 2010