| Metric System |
The Metric System is based on powers of ten. The table below shows the progression of prefixes.
|
PREFIX
|
SYMBOL
|
MATHEMATICAL
VALUE
|
|
exa-
|
E
|
1,000,000,000,000,000,000
|
|
peta-
|
P
|
1,000,000,000,000,000
|
|
tera-
|
T
|
1,000,000,000,000
|
|
giga-
|
G
|
1,000,000,000
|
|
meg-
|
M
|
1,000,000
|
|
kilo-
|
k
|
1,000
|
|
hecto-
|
h
|
100
|
|
deka-
|
da
|
10
|
|
(meter,
liter, gram)
|
1
|
|
|
deci-
|
d
|
0.1
|
|
centi-
|
c
|
0.01
|
|
milli-
|
m
|
0.001
|
|
micro-
|
µ
|
0.000,001
|
|
nano-
|
n
|
0.000,000,001
|
|
pico-
|
p
|
0.000,000,000,001
|
|
femto-
|
f
|
0.000,000,000,000,001
|
|
atto-
|
a
|
0.000,000,000,000,000,001
|
The unit of
measurement from length is the meter. The progression of the
more common units of measure are:
| kilometer | km | 1,000 meters |
| meter | m | 1.0 |
| centimeter | cm | 0.01 meters |
| millimeter | mm | 0.001 meters |
| nanometers | nm | 0.000,000,001 meters |
The unit of
measure for capacity is the liter, so the measurements allow
the same progression, such as kiloliter, centiliter, and so on.
The unit of
measure for weight is the gram, so the measurement prefixes
are kilogram, centigram, and so forth.
When making
conversions within the metric system, each change in prefix
represents one decimal point move. If you move downward one the chart,
the decimal places will be added. If you move upward, the decimal places
are moved to the left.
|
13.12.2005 |
 |