Convert a supplied ADC count to volts.

Arduino / C: Scale a ten-bit ADC count using an explicit reference voltage.

C++ snippet.ino
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  const int reading = 512;
  const float reference = 5.0f;
  Serial.println(reading * reference / 1023.0f,3);
}

void loop() {
}

Expected output EXAMPLE

2.502

Details

Targets Arduino Uno R3 (ATmega328P, 16 MHz) with the Arduino AVR core. Open as a sketch in the Arduino IDE and select Arduino Uno. Serial output uses 9600 baud. Tested with simavr; electrical characteristics and physical wiring are outside this simulation. Scale a ten-bit ADC count using an explicit reference voltage.

Keep in mind

This tests the calculation with fixed data, not an analog peripheral. Measure the actual reference voltage for accurate hardware readings.

✓ Verified

Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · · Uno R3 / ATmega328P at 16 MHz; simavr 1.6+dfsg-3build2 · bash 5.2.21-2ubuntu4; coreutils 9.4-3ubuntu6.3; arduino-cli Version: 1.5.1 Commit: 01f3d4f2b Date: 2026-06-05T10:22:17Z; Arduino AVR core 1.8.6

Test inputs, results and environment

The exact published code ran in a dedicated Linux test container with prepared inputs. Snippet process uid 65534 with a read-only root filesystem and temporary working files. Networking disabled. The exact sketch was compiled for Uno R3 and simulated at 16 MHz. UART output is shown below; compiler logs and measured GPIO traces are retained in the test evidence. Fixtures and output records are isolated from the application database. Testing covers this example and its stated checks, not every input, operating system, or runtime version. The Linux container shares its host's kernel; this is not a native Windows test.

Architecture / host kernel
x86_64 / 6.18.54.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
Snippet identity / locale
uid=65534, gid=65534 (unprivileged process) / C.UTF-8
Interpreter invocation
arduino-cli compile --fqbn arduino:avr:uno; uno-sim sketch.ino.elf (capture UART and D13 transitions)
Container image ID
sha256:ec91410a8f6ec3e985830b5e3a0560306d36f8c1c5ccd91a6699abe707123fa3
Code SHA-256
449de80c37ea9b57876a26dc0a567bce721641c64875f8179c10876e0a8e6fc9
Dependencies
bash 5.2.21-2ubuntu4; coreutils 9.4-3ubuntu6.3; arduino-cli Version: 1.5.1 Commit: 01f3d4f2b Date: 2026-06-05T10:22:17Z; Arduino AVR core 1.8.6

Test input setup

These are the prepared inputs used by the test harness. See Details above for the prerequisites and how to run this example.

Simulator inputs: {"sim_ms": 500, "serial_input": "", "pin_input": "none"}

Observed standard output

2.502

Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.