Convert Nanoliter (nL) to Petaliter (PL) instantly.
About these units
Nanoliter (nL)
A nanoliter equals 10⁻⁹ liters and is commonly used in molecular biology, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), and analytical chemistry. Reaction volumes in high-throughput screening and micro-assays are frequently in nanoliters to conserve expensive reagents. In environmental science, trace samples of pollutants or micro-droplets in aerosols may be measured in nanoliters. Nanoliter volumes also arise in precision drug delivery systems and biomedical implants. The nanoliter represents a critical compromise between practical handling and microscopic precision, making it a cornerstone of modern microfluidic research.
Petaliter (PL)
A petaliter represents 10¹⁵ liters, a massive unit used to quantify the total water content of oceans, polar ice sheets, or planetary atmospheres. Oceanographers may describe the Pacific Ocean's volume or the total ice volume of Antarctica in petaliters; these scales cannot be expressed meaningfully in smaller units without imposing huge, impractical numbers. The PL is also sometimes used in astronomy to approximate ocean-like features on other worlds, such as subsurface oceans on Europa or Enceladus. It represents one of the largest practical volumetric units before entering pure theoretical measurement.