Prefixes

The following table shows the commonly used prefixes associated with the powers of 10.

Measurement prefixes

Prefix	Power	Symbol	Prefix	Power	Symbol
kilo	\(10^3\)	k	milli	\(10^{-3}\)	m
mega	\(10^6\)	M	micro	\(10^{-6}\)	\(\mu\)
giga	\(10^9\)	G	nano	\(10^{-9}\)	n
tera	\(10^{12}\)	T	pico	\(10^{-12}\)	p
peta	\(10^{15}\)	P	femto	\(10^{-15}\)	f

Examples

• The Hume dam has a capacity of 3 005 266 megalitres which is written 3 005 266 ML.
• Human hair ranges from 18 micrometres (18 \(\mu\text{m}\)) to 180 micrometres (180 \(\mu\text{m}\)).
• The sub-atomic particle, the proton, is estimated to have a radius of 0.8768 femometres (0.8768 fm).
• The distance that light travels in a week is 146 Tm.
• The angstrom (Å) is used in the natural sciences to express the size of atoms, the lengths of chemical bonds and the wavelengths of electronic radiation. 1 angstrom = \(10^{-1}\) nanometres = \(10^{-10}\) metres.