Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Milli (symbol m) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of one thousandth (10 −3). [1] Proposed in 1793, [2] and adopted in 1795, the prefix comes from the Latin mille, meaning one thousand (the Latin plural is milia). Since 1960, the prefix is part of the International System of Units (SI).
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 ...
A unit prefix is a specifier or mnemonic that is added to the beginning of a unit of measurement to indicate multiples or fractions of the units. Units of various sizes are commonly formed by the use of such prefixes. The prefixes of the metric system, such as kilo and milli, represent multiplication by positive or negative powers of ten.
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]
The prefixes are never combined, so for example a millionth of a metre is a micrometre, not a millimillimetre. Multiples of the kilogram are named as if the gram were the base unit, so a millionth of a kilogram is a milligram, not a microkilogram. [5]: 122 [11]: 14 The BIPM specifies 24 prefixes for the International System of Units (SI):
Prefix name N/A deca hecto 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: 10 24: 10 27: 10 30
The root language of a numerical prefix need not be related to the root language of the word that it prefixes. Some words comprising numerical prefixes are hybrid words. In certain classes of systematic names, there are a few other exceptions to the rule of using Greek-derived numerical prefixes.
Instead, metric units use multiplier prefixes that magnifies or diminishes the value of the unit by powers of ten." The most widely used examples are the units of the International System of Units (SI). By extension they include units of electromagnetism from the CGS and SI units systems, and other units for which use of SI prefixes has become ...