Stepper Motor Steps Per Revolution Calculator

Work out stepper motor steps per revolution instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Stepper Motor Steps Per Revolution Calculator

A 1.8 degree stepper has 200 full steps per revolution. Microstepping and gearing multiply that, and dividing by the lead screw pitch gives steps per millimetre — the number a firmware configuration actually needs. A 200-step motor at 16x microstepping on an 8 mm lead gives 400 steps/mm.

Formula

Steps per mm

steps/rev = 360/step angle x microstepping x gear ratio; steps/mm = steps/rev / lead pitch

Worked example

With the default values below, Stepper Motor Steps Per Revolution Calculator returns Steps per output revolution of 3,200. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Full step angle: 1.8 °
Microstepping: 16 x
Gear reduction: 1 :1
Lead screw pitch: 8 mm/rev

Results

Steps per output revolution: 3,200 steps
Steps per millimetre: 400.00 steps/mm
Linear resolution: 2.50 µm
Full steps per revolution: 200 steps

Step by step

1Values used
2Steps per mm
3Steps per output revolution= 3,200 steps
4Steps per millimetre= 400.00 steps/mm
5Linear resolution= 2.50 µm
6Full steps per revolution= 200 steps

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 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 2 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

Does microstepping improve accuracy?

It improves smoothness and resolution but not accuracy. Positional error is dominated by the motor's inherent step accuracy of typically 5% and by load torque deflection.

Why does high microstepping lose torque?

Incremental torque per microstep falls as the sine of the microstep angle, so at 1/16 step the holding torque between microsteps is only about 10% of full step torque.