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-
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!
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.
mm
k
The basic prefixes deci, centi and milli decrease by powers of ten and deca, hecto and kilo increase by powers of ten.
A metric prefix or SI prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a decadic multiple or fraction of the unit. The various prefix unit are kilo , hecto,deca,deci.
"Meter" is the root word of decimeter, because "deci" is a prefix. It is used in metric prefixes.
unity
In the metric system, the base units relate to the dimension being measured: kilogram for mass, meter for length, second for time, ampere for electric current, and a few others. (see related link) The liter is not an official SI unit but is commonly accepted as a unit of volume. The prefixes represent a power of ten that is multiplied to give a unit of a certain value. See the related link for a table of prefixes. Some examples are kilo- (meaning 1000) gives kilometer (1000 meters) and kilogram (1000 grams). Milli- (derived from the Latin word for 1000, but meaning 1/1000 or 0.001); therefore, milligram is 0.001 grams, millimeter is 0.001 meters, milliliter is 0.001 liters, and millisecond is 0.001 seconds. Any of the prefixes can be used with a unit, but some are more commonly used than others. Prefixes can also be used with derived units which have special names. For example: kilowatt, kilopascal.
centum - hundred centimeter
The basic prefixes deci, centi and milli decrease by powers of ten and deca, hecto and kilo increase by powers of ten.
The basic prefixes deci, centi and milli decrease by powers of ten and deca, hecto and kilo increase by powers of ten.
1000
Newtons is the basic metric system unit for weight
The basic metric unit for weight is the newton.
The prefix for 10-9 is nano-.
In the metric systems, unlike other systems, there is only one unit for each measurement; e.g the only unit for length is the metre. For lengths much longer, or much shorter, we use prefixes to indicate the fraction or multiple of the metre.For short lengths the fractions are thousandths, millionths, billionths; for which the prefixes are milli-, micro-, and nano-.For longer lengths, the multiples are thousands, millions, and billions; for which the prefixes are kilo-, mega-, and giga-.The prefixes indicate the fraction,or the multiple of the base unit.
Every prefix in the metric system denotes a power of 10.
The metric system is based on a system of tens, so all the units in the system relate to each other in terms of tens. To the basic unit: 1000 milli= [unit] 100 centi= [unit] 10 deci= [unit] 0.1 deca= [unit] 0.01 hecto= [unit] 0.001 kilo= [unit]
The metric value of 1000g is precisely 1000g
In the metric system, the gram (g) is the named unit in the metric system which takes the various suffixes to measure larger or smaller amounts. However, the basic unit of mass in the SI system is the kilogram (1000g) which is used to define the size of a gram.