Mesh to Micron Converter

The mesh-to-micron converter is a handy tool for understanding the relationship between the sizes of dust and particulate matter in different measurement systems.

Keep reading to learn more about this important concept of granulometry: here, you will learn what the mesh is, how we define it, and how it relates to microns. We will teach you how to convert mesh to micron, the calculations to approximate this conversion, and much more!

The mesh is a measurement unit that applies to a very specific range of applications: it efficiently determines the distribution of the sizes of granular material, discriminating between two sizes.

The name mesh comes from the tool used to perform these measurements. A mesh with openings of a defined width will separate a material into two parts: one with elements smaller than the openings (which pass through the opening) and one with elements larger than the openings (which can't cross the mesh).

The most important application of the mesh is to assess the ratio between these two parts: the higher the portion retained by the mesh for an opening size slightly smaller than the elements of the material, the more uniform the mesh.

The mesh size is an integer number that represents, in its most common definition, the number of openings per linear inch. This means that a mesh size of 100 corresponds to a sieve with one hundred openings per linear inch.

On the other hand, a mesh size 3 means that there are only three openings per inch. You can imagine that while the first sieve can be built using a fine, hair-width mesh, the other will require a sturdier, broader material. The different materials used in building the meshes prevent the definition of an unambiguous conversion from mesh to any other measurement units of length, like the conversions you might have already seen in Omni Calculator's length converter.

Take the conversion from mesh to micrometer, a common one in granulometry. In our first case, we can imagine that the width of the wire we used to produce this mesh is approximately $50\ \text{μm}$, whereas the opening has width $200\ \text{μm}$. As there are $25,\!400$ microns in an inch, this gives us an approximate result for the mesh size:

Let's consider now the other sieve. In this case, with three openings per inch, we can imagine the material used in its fabrication to have a width of $2.5\ \text{mm}$ (approximately $0.1\ \text{in}$), leaving $6\ \text{mm}$ (approximately one-fourth of an inch) wide openings. Converting to microns these measurements (which you can do with our millimeter calculator), we can calculate the mesh size:

If we were to find a conversion factor between mesh and micron, we'd have some difficulties. For starters, the conversion of mesh and micron is based on inverse proportionality, which means that an increase in the size in microns corresponds to a decrease in the mesh size, and vice versa.

Moreover, the conversion factor between the mesh size and the opening's width (an important factor for the granulometric analysis) is affected by the sieve's property, returning different values for different mesh sizes and sieves.

So, how do you perform the conversion from mesh to micron, and vice versa? As we have already stated, mesh and microns are inversely proportional only to a certain value, so there is no official formula for converting mesh to microns and vice versa. Thus, you will find it convenient to use a mesh to micron chart shown below:

Converting between 50 and 400 mesh, read a value from the mesh to micron chart, or you can use an experimental formula that gives approximate micron values:

and for micron to mesh conversion:

Using our mesh to micron converter is fabulously simple, just:

1. Select the number of mesh from the drop-down list.
2. The mesh to micron calculator will give you the right number of microns immediately.