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It is the only SI prefix which uses a character not from the Latin alphabet. In Unicode, the symbol is represented by U+03BC μ GREEK SMALL LETTER MU or the legacy symbol U+00B5 µ MICRO SIGN. The prefix "mc" is commonly used in healthcare or when the character "μ" is not available; for example, "mcg" commonly denotes a microgram. [3]
For example, 5 km is treated as 5000 m, which allows all quantities based on the same unit to be factored together even if they have different prefixes. A prefix symbol attached to a unit symbol is included when the unit is raised to a power. For example, 1 km 2 denotes 1 km × 1 km = 10 6 m 2, not 10 3 m 2.
The United States–based Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommend that the symbol μg should not be used when communicating medical information due to the risk that the prefix μ (micro-) might be misread as the prefix m (milli-), resulting in a thousandfold overdose.
The prefixes of the metric system precede a basic unit of measure to indicate a decadic multiple and fraction of a unit. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is added to the beginning of the unit symbol. Some of the prefixes date back to the introduction of the metric system in the 1790s, but new prefixes have been added, and some have been ...
The micrometre (Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; [1] SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, [2] is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI) equalling 1 × 10 −6 metre (SI standard prefix "micro-" = 10 −6); that is, one millionth of a metre (or one thousandth of a ...
"μ" is used as a unit prefix denoting a factor of 10 −6 (one millionth), in this context, the symbol's name is "micro". Metric prefix; International System of Units prefix, also known as "SI prefix" The micrometre with a symbol of "μm" can also be referred to as the non-SI term "micron".
The following table lists the names of small numbers used in the long and short scales, along with the power of 10, engineering notation, and International System of Units (SI) symbols and prefixes. [1] [page needed] [2] [page needed] [3] [page needed] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The British Association for the Advancement of Science committee incorporated the micro- prefix into the newly established CGS system in 1873. [6] The micro- prefix was finally added to the official SI system in 1960, acknowledging measurements that were made at an even smaller level, denoting a factor of 10^-6. [6]