Science Resources

Physics Formulas: [ Mechanics ] [ Waves ] [ Thermodynamics ] [ Electromagnetism ]
Chemistry: [ Chemical Compounds - Nomenclature ] [ Periodic Table ] [ Periodic Table (alt) ]
Conversions: [ Standard to Metric ] [ Metric to Standard ] [ Conversion Tables ] [ Metric Prefixes ]

Metric Prefixes
[ Print This Page ]

Metric prefixes are pretty easy to understand and very handy for metric conversions. You don't have to know the nature of a unit to convert, for example, from kilo-unit to mega-unit. All metric prefixes are powers of 10. The most commonly used prefixes are highlighted in the table.

Prefixes	Symbol	Factor
yotta	Y	10²⁴ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
zetta	Z	10²¹ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
exa	E	10¹⁸ = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
peta	P	10¹⁵ = 1,000,000,000,000,000
tera	T	10¹² = 1,000,000,000,000
giga	G	10⁹ = 1,000,000,000
mega	M	10⁶ = 1,000,000
kilo	k	10³ = 1,000
hecto	h	10² = 100
deka	da	10¹ = 10
deci	d	10^-1 = 0.1
centi	c	10^-2 = 0.01
milli	m	10^-3 = 0.001
micro	µ	10^-6 = 0.000,001
nano	n	10^-9 = 0.000,000,001
pico	p	10^-12 = 0,000,000,000,001
femto	f	10^-15 = 0.000,000,000,000,001
atto	a	10^-18 = 0.000,000,000,000,000,001
zepto	z	10^-21 = 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,001
yocto	y	10^-24 = 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001

Most people even in the countries where metric system is used only know the most important metric prefixes like 'kilo' and 'milli'. They are very handy for understanding metric conversions. The prefixes like 'zepto' or 'yotta' are very specific and used mostly in science.

More Resources:

OnlineConversion.com - Convert just about anything to anything else. Over 5,000 units, and 50,000 conversions.

Units Converter

Unit Search:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Unit Categories

Acceleration m/s², g (Earth Gravity) ...	Angle Degrees, Minutes, Radian ...
Angular Acceleration Degree/s², Revolution/minute² ...	Angular Velocity Degree/second, Revolution/minute (rpm) ...
Area m², acres, hectares ...	Density Cubic centimetre/gram, Pound/foot³ ...
Dynamic Viscosity Centipoise, Kilogram/metre second ...	Energy Btus, Ergs, Horsepower hours ...
Force Kilogram force, Kilonewton ...	Fuel Consumption (US) Mile/Gallon, Liter/100 Kilometer ...
Kinematic Viscosity Centistokes, Square millimetre/second ...	Length km, feet, yards ...
Linear Velocity Centimetre/second, Speed of light ...	Mass Flow Gram/hour, Tonne/day ...
Power Btu per hour, Dyne-centimeter per second ...	Pressure Atmosphere, Bar, Pascal ...
Temperature Celsius, Fahrenheit ...	Time Day, Minute, Week ...
Volume cm³, litres ...	Volume Flow Barrel (oil)/s, Gallons/hour ...
Weight Drams, Micrograms, Stones ...
Powered by EngNet®