Chapter 2 Prefixes for Units

Important Chemical Concepts and a Basic

Approach to Chemical Equilibrium
tera- (T) 10
12

MEASUREMENT- consists of two parts: a giga- (G) 10

9

number and a unit.

mega- (M) 10
6
● A number without any unit is usually
meaningless. kilo- (k) 2
10
English System - United States, most
measurements are made with old English deci- (d) 10
−1

system units:
- pounds centi- (c) 10
−2
- miles
- gallons milli- (m) −3
10
Metric System - a system originated in
France about 1800 and that has since micro- (µ) 10
−6

spread throughout the world. Use for

convenience, so we won’t have to use long nano- (n) 10
−9
numbers.
pico- (p) 10
−12
International System of Units (SI) - based
on a metric system and uses some metric
units. It is more restrictive. femto- (f) 10
−15

Basic Properties: Base units in atto- (a) 10

−18

Metric System
SI Units
Length meter (m) SI is the acronym for the French "Système
International d'Unités."
Volume liter (L)
The ångstrom unit, Å, is a non-Sl unit of
Mass gram (g) length that is widely used to express the
wavelength of very short radiation such as
Time seconds (s) −10
X-rays (1Å = 0.1 nm = 10 m). Typical
X-radiation lies in the range of 0.1 to 10 Å.
Temperature kelvin (K)
Primary Regions of the
Energy Joule (J)
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Amount of mole (mol)
Substance - Microwave
- Visible Light
Electric Current ampere (A) - Infrared
- Ultraviolet rays
Luminous candela (cd) - X-rays
Intensity - Gamma Rays
- Radio Waves

- Easy to convert one unit to another

- With the use of prefixes