Metric System Prefixes

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Table of metric system prefixes, symbols, and multiplication factors.

The metric system defines prefixes and corresponding symbols for positive and negative powers of 10, as applied to each unit of measure. These prefixes are defined for one power of ten increments in the more middle range and for three powers of ten increments in the outlying ranges. For instance, the meter is the standard unit of length in the metric system. The decimeter is one tenth of a meter, the centimeter is one hundredth of a meter, the millimeter is one thousandth of a meter, and the micrometer is one millionth of a meter. In practice, some prefixes and/or combinations are rarely used. The kilometer (one thousand meters) is a commonly used measure, while the dekameter (ten meters) and the hectometer (one hundred meters) are rarely used. The prefixes at the top and bottom of the table are mostly used in specialized mathematical and scientific fields.

This convenient table of metric system prefixes is useful when doing metric conversion calculations.

Metric System Prefix Table
Prefix	Symbol	Multiplication Factor	Power of 10
yotta	Y	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	+24
zetta	Z	1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000	+21
exa	E	1,000,000,000,000,000,000	+18
peta	P	1,000,000,000,000,000	+15
tera	T	1,000,000,000,000	+12
giga	G	1,000,000,000	+9
mega	M	1,000,000	+6
kilo	k	1,000	+3
hecto	h	100	+2
deka	da	10	+1
deci	d	0.1	-1
centi	c	0.01	-2
milli	m	0.001	-3
micro	µ	0.000,001	-6
nano	n	0.000,000,001	-9
pico	p	0.000,000,000,001	-12
femto	f	0,000,000,000,000,001	-15
atto	a	0,000,000,000,000,000,001	-18
zepto	z	0,000,000,000,000,000,000,001	-21
yocto	y	0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001	-24

prefixes for positive and negative powers of 10

Prefixes for + and - Powers of 10

Other Metric System Resources

SI Prefixes - discussion and table of metric system SI prefixes.

Metric System Prefixes

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