Final answer:
The statement that 1 picofarad is equal to 10^-12 farads is true; the farad is the SI unit for capacitance, often used in considerably smaller units for practical applications.
Step-by-step explanation:
It is true that 1 picofarad is equal to 10^-12 farads. The farad (symbol F) is indeed the SI unit of capacitance and is named after the English scientist Michael Faraday. The farad measures capacitance, which is the amount of electric charge stored (or separated) for a given electric potential. Therefore, a 1-farad capacitor can store 1 coulomb of charge with the application of only 1 volt. This makes one farad a very large unit, so in practical applications, capacitors are usually specified in much smaller units such as picofarads, microfarads, and millifarads.