Many standard prefixes are used to represent powers of ten, most of which are employed quite frequently to express various units. We are all familiar with some of them, including kilo- (from the Greek chilioi, or “a thousand”), milli- (from the Latin mille, or “thousand”), and micro- (from the Greek mikros, or “small”). The following chart defines some prefixes representing the powers of ten:
Multiple |
Name |
1018 |
exa |
1015 |
peta |
1012 |
tera |
109 |
giga |
106 |
mega |
103 |
kilo |
10 |
deka |
102 |
hecto |
10-1 |
deci |
10-2 |
centi |
10-3 |
milli |
10-6 |
micro |
10-9 |
nano |
10-12 |
pico |
10-15 |
femto |
10-i8 |
atto |