Metric System (SI) Prefixes

Metric System (SI) Prefixes, also known as Metric prefixes or SI Prefixes, are useful to present a measurement unit in multiple or submultiple. The following table summarizes all commonly used prefixes.

Prefix (Symbol)Multiplication Factor (decimal multiple)10nIn WordsExemple
yotta (Y)1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0001024septillionYottameter (Ym)
zetta (Z)1,000,000,000,000,000,000,0001021sextillionZettameter (Zm)
exa (E)1,000,000,000,000,000,0001018quintillionExameter (Em)
peta (P)1,000,000,000,000,0001015quadrillionPetameter (Pm)
tera (T)1,000,000,000,0001012trillionTerameter (Tm)
giga (G)1,000,000,000109billionGigameter (Gm)
mega (M)1,000,000106millionMegameter (Mm)
kilo (k)1,000103thousandKilometre (km)
hecto (h)100102hundredHectometer (hm)
deca (da)10101tenDecameter (dam)
Base unit1100oneMeter 
deci (d)0.110-1tenthDecimeter (dm)
centi (c)0.0110-2hundredthCentimeter (cm)
milli (m)0.00110-3thousandthMillimeter (mm)
micro (µ)0.000,00110-6millionthMicrometer (µm)
nano (n)0.000,000,00110-9billionthNanometer (nm)
pico (p)0.000,000,000,00110-12trillionthPicometer (pm)
femto (f)0.000,000,000,000,00110-15quadrillionthFemtometer (fm)
atto (a)0.000,000,000,000,000,00110-18quintillionthAttometer (am)
zepto (z)0.000,000,000,000,000,000,00110-21sextillionthZeptometer (zm)
yocto (y)0.000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00110-24septillionthYoctometer (ym)

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