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Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol. The prefix kilo-, for example, may be added to gram to indicate multiplication by one thousand: one kilogram is equal to one thousand grams. The prefix milli-, likewise, may be added to metre to indicate division by one thousand; one millimetre is equal to one thousandth of a ...
The unit prefixes are always considered to be part of the unit, so that, e.g., in exponentiation, 1 km 2 means one square kilometre, not one thousand square metres, and 1 cm 3 means one cubic centimetre, not one hundredth of a cubic metre. In general, prefixes are used with any metric unit, but may also be used with non-metric units.
Conversions between units in the metric system are defined by their prefixes (for example, 1 kilogram = 1000 grams, 1 milligram = 0.001 grams) and are thus not listed in this article. Exceptions are made if the unit is commonly known by another name (for example, 1 micron = 10 −6 metre).
The prefix kilo, for example, implies a factor of 1000 (10 3), and the prefix milli implies a factor of 1/1000 (10-3). Thus, a kilometre is a thousand metres, and a milligram is one thousandth of a gram. These relations can be written symbolically as: [4]
kilo mega giga tera peta exa zetta yotta ronna quetta; Prefix symbol da h k M G T P E Z Y R Q Factor 10 0: 10 1: 10 2: 10 3: 10 6: 10 9: 10 12: 10 15: 10 18: 10 21: ...
Metric prefixes; Text Symbol Factor or; yotta Y 10 24: 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000: zetta Z 10 21: 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000: exa E 10 18: 1 000 000 000 000 000 000: peta P 10 15: 1 000 000 000 000 000: tera T
The factor–label method can convert only unit quantities for which the units are in a linear relationship intersecting at 0 (ratio scale in Stevens's typology). Most conversions fit this paradigm. An example for which it cannot be used is the conversion between the Celsius scale and the Kelvin scale (or the Fahrenheit scale). Between degrees ...
Metric units are units based on the metre, gram or second and decimal (power of ten) multiples or sub-multiples of these. According to Schadow and McDonald, [1] metric units, in general, are those units "defined 'in the spirit' of the metric system, that emerged in late 18th century France and was rapidly adopted by scientists and engineers.