What are the values of the basic metric prefixes?

Answer 1

In decreasing order:

x 1024 = Y = yotta-

x 1021 = Z = zetta-

x 1018 = E = exa-

x 1015 = P = peta-

x 1012 = T = tera-

x 109 = G = giga-

x 106 = M = mega-

x 103 = k = kilo

x 102 = h = hecto-

x 10 = da = deca-

x 1 = <none> = <none> - the unit itself

x 10-1 = d = deci-

x 10-2 = c = centi-

x 10-3 = m = milli-

x 10-6 = μ = micro-

x 10-9 = n = nano-

x 10-12 = p = pico-

x 10-15 = f = femto-

x 10-18 = a = atto-

x 10-21 = z = zepto-

x 10-24 = y = yocto-

Answer 2

Prefix Symbol Exponential Word Number (multiply by)

yocto y 10-24 septillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001

zepto z 10-21 sextillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001

atto a 10-18 quintillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 001

femto f 10-15 quadrillionth 0.000 000 000 000 001

pico- p 10-12 trillionth 0.000 000 000 001

nano- n 10-9 billionth 0.000 000 001

micro- μ 10-6 millionth 0.000 001

milli- m 10-3 thousandth 0.001

centi- c 10-2 hundredth 0.01

deci- d 10-1 tenth 0.1

0

deca- d 10 ten 10

hecto- h 102 hundred 100

kilo- k 103 thousand 1000

mega- M 106 million 1,000,000

giga- G 109 billion 1,000,000,000

tera- T 1012 trillion 1,000,000,000,000

peta- P 1015 quadrillion 1,000,000,000,000,000

exa- E 1018 quintillion 1,000,000,000,000,000,000

zetta Z 1021 sextillion 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

yotta Y 1024 septillion 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Some comparisons . . .

A meter is about the length of a person's arm.

A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Think of it this way: There are as many nanometers in an inch as there are inches in 400 miles.

An ant's eye is about 50 micrometers.

The dime is about 1 millimeter thick. (A millimeter is one million times larger than a nanometer!)

A centimeter is about the width of a popsicle stick.

Mega comes from the Greek megasmeaning "great, large, or mighty."

Giga is from the Greek gigas meaning "giant."

Kilo comes from the Greek khilioimeaning 1,000.

The Earth has a mass of approximately 6000 Yottagrams!

Answer 3

There are twenty prefixes in the SI system, ten representing multiples and ten representing fractions of the base unit.

Using metres as an example.

kilo- 1 kilometre= 1 x 103 metres, 1 000 m.

mega= 1 Mm= 1 x 106m 1 000 000 m

giga- 1 Gm=1 x 109m, 1 000 000 000 m.

tera-, 1Tm= 1 x 1012m 1 000 000 000 000 m

peta- 1 Pm= 1 x 1015m, 1 000 000 000 000 000 m.

exa, 1 Em= 1 x 1018m, 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 m.

zetta- 1 Zm= 1 x 1021m, 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 m.

yotta- 1 Ym= 1 x 1024m, 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 m.

There are also deca and hecto fro tens and hundreds, but these a never used.

milli- 1 mm = 1 x 10-3m, 0.001 m

micro- 1μm= 1 x 10-6m, 0.000 001 m

nano- 1 nm= 1 x 10-9m, 0.000 000 001m

pico, 1 pm= 1 x 10-12m, 0.000 000 000 001 m

femto- 1 fm= 1 x 10-15m, 0.000 000 000 000 001 m

atto- 1 am = 1 x 10-18m, 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 m

zepto- 1 zm= 1 x 10-21m, 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 m

yocto- 1 ym= 1 x 10-24m, 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 m

There are also deci and centi for tenths and hundredths but these are rarely if ever used.

Prefixes for multiples are upper case symbols, except for kilo,k. Prefixes for fractions are lowercase symbols.

Answer 4

mm

Answer 5

k