Chemistry Unit Prefixes

PrefixUnit AbbreviationExponential FactorMeaningExample

giga

G

10⁹

1,000,000,000

1 gigameter (Gm) = 10⁹ m

mega

M

10⁶

1,000,000

1 megameter (Mm) = 10⁶ m

kilo

k

10³

1000

1 kilometer (km) = 1000 m

hecto

h

10²

100

1 hectometer (hm) = 100 m

deka

da

10¹

10

1 dekameter (dam) = 10 m

10⁰

1

1 meter (m)

deci

d

10^-1

1/10

1 decimeter (dm) = 0.1 m

centi

c

10^-2

1/100

1 centimeter (cm) = 0.01 m

milli

m

10^-3

1/1000

1 millimeter (mm) = 0.001 m

micro

µ

10^-6

1/1,000,000

1 micrometer (µm) = 10^-6 m

nano

n

10^-9

1/1,000,000,000

1 nanometer (nm) = 10^-9 m

pico

p

10^-12

1/1,000,000,000,000

1 picometer (pm) = 10^-12 m