Milligrammes

Milligrammes is the plural form of the unit milligramme, a unit of mass in the metric system equal to one thousandth of a gram. In standard English usage, the common spelling is milligram with the plural milligrams; milligramme and milligrammes appear in contexts influenced by other languages (notably French) or older texts. The symbol for the unit is mg. In SI terms, 1 gram equals 1000 milligrams, so 1 milligram equals 1 × 10^-6 kilograms.

Milligrammes are used to express small masses where grams would be too large and decimals inconvenient. They are common in medicine, pharmacology, nutrition labeling, chemistry, and biology. Drug dosages, tablet weights, and amounts of active ingredients are frequently described in milligrams.

Measurement and precision: quantities at the milligram level are typically measured with analytical balances or precision scales, which may provide readability to 0.1 mg or better depending on the instrument and calibration. Accurate measurement at this scale requires proper handling, calibration, and awareness of potential weighing errors.

Conversions: 1 mg equals 1000 micrograms (µg); 1 mg equals 0.001 grams (g); 1 mg equals 0.000001 kilograms (kg).

See also: microgram, gram, kilogram, SI units.