Retirement Plans (Reconciliation Of Change In Value For Level 3 Assets) (Details) (Fair Value, Level 3 [Member], USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Fair Value, Level 3 [Member]
Fair Value, Assets Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation, Calculation [Roll Forward]
Level 3, beginning	$ 250	$ 250
Gains (Losses) on assets held	(18)	25
Gains (Losses) on assets sold	21	(22)
Purchases, sales and settlements, net	55	(3)
Level 3, ending	$ 308	$ 250

Fair value measurement with unobservable inputs reconciliation recurring basis asset gains losses on assets held.

No definition available.

Name:	emr_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationRecurringBasisAssetGainsLossesOnAssetsHeld
Namespace Prefix:	emr_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Fair value measurement with unobservable inputs reconciliation recurring basis asset gains losses on assets sold.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	emr_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationRecurringBasisAssetGainsLossesOnAssetsSold
Namespace Prefix:	emr_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueAssetsMeasuredOnRecurringBasisUnobservableInputReconciliationCalculationRollForward
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of purchases, (sales), issuances and (settlements) of financial instrument classified as an asset measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 820

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph c

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=36462937&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationRecurringBasisAssetPurchasesSalesIssuancesSettlements
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Fair value of financial instrument classified as an asset measured using unobservable inputs that reflect the entity's own assumption about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 820

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (c)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=36462937&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueMeasurementWithUnobservableInputsReconciliationRecurringBasisAssetValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant