Conversions: Metric Values

The table below provides a fast and easy means of Example: Convert 0.15 kilowatts to watts. Starting at the
conversion from one metric notation to another. The value “Kilo-” box in the left-hand column, move horizontally to the
labeled “Unit” represents a basic unit of measurement, such column headed by “Unit” (since watt is a basic unit of
as meter, gram, ohm, erg, etc. First, locate the original value measurement), and read 3 . Thus 0.15 kilowatts is the
in the left-hand column. Follow the row horizontally to the equivalent of 150 watts.
vertical column headed by the prefix of the desired value. The Example: Convert 4,500 kilohertz to megahertz, read in the
arrow and figure at this intersection represent the direction in box horizontal to “Kilo-” and under “Mega-” the notation
which the decimal point should be moved and the number of 3, which means a shift of the decimal point three places
places to move it. to the left. Thus, 4,500 kilohertz is the equivalent of 4.5
megahertz.

Original Desired Value

Value Tera- Giga- Mega- Myria- Kilo- Hecto- Deka- Unit Deci- Centi- Milli- Micro- Nano- Pico-
Tera- 3 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 18 21 24
Giga- 3 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 18 21
Mega- 6 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 15 18
Myria- 8 5 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 13 16
Kilo- 9 6 3 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 9 12 15
Hecto- 10 7 4 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 8 11 14
Deka- 11 8 5 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 7 10 13
Unit 12 9 6 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 6 9 12
Deci- 13 10 7 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 5 8 11
Centi- 14 11 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 4 7 10
Milli- 15 12 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3 6 9
Micro- 18 15 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 6
Nano- 21 18 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 3 3
Pico- 24 21 18 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 6 3

Conversions: Metric Prefixes

atto . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . . . . . one-quintillionth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 ..............................10–18

femto . . . . . . . . . . . . f . . . . . . . . one-quadrillionth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.000 000 000 000 001 ......................................10–15
pico . . . . . . . . . . . . . p . . . . . . . one-trillionth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.000 000 000 001 ..............................................10–12
nano . . . . . . . . . . . . n . . . . . . . one-billionth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.000 000 001.......................................................10–9
micro . . . . . . . . . . . . µ . . . . . . . one-millionth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.000 001...............................................................10–6
milli . . . . . . . . . . . . . m . . . . . . . one-thousandth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.001 .......................................................................10–3
centi . . . . . . . . . . . . c. . . . . . . . one-hundredth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.01 .........................................................................10–2
deci . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . . one-tenth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1 ...........................................................................10–1
uni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 ...........................................................................100
deka . . . . . . . . . . . . da . . . . . . ten. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.0 ...........................................................................101
hecto . . . . . . . . . . . . h . . . . . . . one hundred . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 ...........................................................................102
kilo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . k. . . . . . . . one thousand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 000.0 ...........................................................................103
mega . . . . . . . . . . . . M . . . . . . . one million . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 000 000.0 ...........................................................................106
giga . . . . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . . . . one billion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 000 000 000.0 ...........................................................................109
tera . . . . . . . . . . . . . T . . . . . . . one trillion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 000 000 000 000.0 ...........................................................................1012