DNA Base Pair Calculator
Convert between DNA length in base pairs, mass and physical length.
About DNA Base Pair Calculator
Double-stranded DNA averages 650 daltons per base pair and rises 0.34 nm per base pair. Those two constants convert between sequence length, mass and physical dimension. The human genome at 3.2 billion base pairs is therefore about a metre of DNA per cell, which is why chromatin packaging is so elaborate.
Formula
DNA Base Pair
MW = base pairs × 650 Da; length = base pairs × 0.34 nm
- 650 Da
- Average molecular weight of a double-stranded base pair
- 0.34 nm
- Rise per base pair in the B-DNA double helix
Worked example
With the default values below, DNA Base Pair Calculator returns Total Mass of 5.396752. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Length in base pairsminimum 0 bp
- 5,000 bp
- Number of copiesminimum 0
- 1,000,000,000
- Average mass per base pairminimum 1 Da
- 650 Da
Results
- Total Mass
- 5.396752 ng
- Molecular Weight
- 3,250,000.0 Da
- Physical Length of One Molecule
- 1,700.00 nm
- Moles of DNA
- 0.000000000000 mol
- Length
- 5.0000 kb
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2DNA Base Pair
- 3Total Mass= 5.396752 ng
- 4Molecular Weight= 3,250,000.0 Da
- 5Physical Length of One Molecule= 1,700.00 nm
- 6Moles of DNA= 0.000000000000 mol
- 7Length= 5.0000 kb
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 12 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is DNA Base Pair calculated?
MW = base pairs × 650 Da; length = base pairs × 0.34 nm Double-stranded DNA averages 650 daltons per base pair and rises 0.34 nm per base pair. Those two constants convert between sequence length, mass and physical dimension.
Why does DNA Base Pair matter?
The human genome at 3.2 billion base pairs is therefore about a metre of DNA per cell, which is why chromatin packaging is so elaborate.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 3 inputs: Length in base pairs, Number of copies, Average mass per base pair. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.