Metric System Review

Metric System

Powers of Ten

  • The metric system uses powers of ten for scaling units.

  • Table 1.1 lists metric system prefixes and their corresponding powers of ten, symbols, and meanings.

    ExponentPrefixSymbolMeaning
    10910^9gigaGbillion
    10610^6megaMmillion
    10310^3kilokthousand
    10210^2hectohhundred
    10110^1decadaten
    10−110^{-1}decidtenth
    10−210^{-2}centiChundredth
    10−310^{-3}millimthousandth
    10−610^{-6}microμmillionth
    10−910^{-9}nanonbillionth

Complementary Metric Units

  • Certain metric prefixes often appear together in pairs.

  • Table 1.2 lists these complementary metric units.

  • For instance, frequency is often measured in megahertz (millions of cycles per second), while period is measured in microseconds (millionths of seconds).

    PairsPrefixesAbbreviations
    billions and billionthsgiga & nanoG & n
    millions and millionthsmega & microM & μ
    thousands and thousandthskilo & millik & m
    hundreds and hundredthshecto & centih & c
    tens and tenthsdeca & decida & d