APPENDIX
Metric (SI) Prefixes
Power
Prefix
Meaning
of 10
Example
12
tera-
1,000,000,000,000
10
1 terameters equals one trillion meters
9
giga-
1,000,000,000
10
1 gigameter equals one billion meters
6
mega-
1,000,000 times
10
1 megameter equals one million meters
3
kilo-
1,000 times
10
1 kilometer equals one thousand meters
2
hecto-
100 times
10
1 hectometer equals one hundred meters
1
deca-
10 times
10
1 decameter equals ten meters
0
10
1 meter equals 1 meter
-1
deci-
1/10
10
ten decimeters equal 1 meter
-2
centi-
1/100
10
one hundred centimeters equal 1 meter
-3
milli-
1/1000
10
one thousand millimeters equal 1 meter
-6
micro-
1/1,000,000
10
-9
nano-
1/1,000,000,000
10
one billion nanometers equal 1 meter
-12
pico-
1/1,000,000,000,000
10
one trillion picometers equal 1 meter
Memory Aids
centi- (1/100) -- a cent is 1/100 of a dollar
deci- (1/10) -- a dime is 1/10 of a dollar
deca- (10) -- a decade is 10 years
hect- or hecto- (100) -- starts with same letter as "hundred"
Conversion: Length
1 inch (in) = 2.54 centimeters = 25.4 millimeters
1 foot (ft) = 30.48 centimeters = 0.3048 meters
1 yard (yd) = 91.44 centimeters = 0.9144 meters
1 mile ( mi) = 1.609 kilometers
1 millimeter (mm) = 0.0394 inches
1 centimeter (cm) = 0.394 inches = 0.0328 feet
1 meter (m) = 1.094 yards = 3.28 feet = 39.4 inches
1 kilometer (km) = 0.621 (about 5/8) miles = 1094 yards = 3281 feet
MD0900
A-1