Chemistry Unit Prefixes

giga (G)

An exponent factor of 10^9, representing 1,000,000,000; e.g., 1 gigameter (Gm) equals 10^9 meters.

mega (M)

An exponent factor of 10^6, representing 1,000,000; e.g., 1 megameter (Mm) equals 10^6 meters.

kilo (k)

An exponent factor of 10^3, representing 1,000; e.g., 1 kilometer (km) equals 1,000 meters.

hecto (h)

An exponent factor of 10^2, representing 100; e.g., 1 hectometer (hm) equals 100 meters.

deka (da)

An exponent factor of 10^1, representing 10; e.g., 1 dekameter (dam) equals 10 meters.

deci (d)

An exponent factor of 10^-1, representing 1/10; e.g., 1 decimeter (dm) equals 0.1 meters.

centi (c)

An exponent factor of 10^-2, representing 1/100; e.g., 1 centimeter (cm) equals 0.01 meters.

milli (m)

An exponent factor of 10^-3, representing 1/1000; e.g., 1 millimeter (mm) equals 0.001 meters.

micro (µ)

An exponent factor of 10^-6, representing 1/1,000,000; e.g., 1 micrometer (µm) equals 10^-6 meters.

nano (n)

An exponent factor of 10^-9, representing 1/1,000,000,000; e.g., 1 nanometer (nm) equals 10^-9 meters.

pico (p)

An exponent factor of 10^-12, representing 1/1,000,000,000,000; e.g., 1 picometer (pm) equals 10^-12 meters.