24th
July 2010
Saint Lucia
– Metric is Here! – Part VI
Summary
of the Metric System
Prefixes of the International Standard of Units
(SI)
We have examined so far: (a) base units of the
Metric System (SI); (b) derived units; (c) derived
units with special names. Now we will take a
look at the prefixes of the SI or Metric System.
Using the prefixes of the Metric System can
make it possible to avoid the use of fractions.
You can do all your measuring in whole numbers
without decimal fractions and without common
or vulgar fractions. There are 20 prefixes in
the Metric System (SI) and they are as follows:
Prefix Symbol Used for measuring
yotta Y 1024 The size of the whole universe
zetta Z 1021 The distance to galaxies
exa E 1018 the distance to the farthest stars
peta P 1015 The distance to the nearest stars
tera T 1012 Distances between the sun and the
planets
giga G 109 Diameters of large stars –
Betelgeuse ˜ 500 Gm
mega M 106 Diameters of small stars –
Sun ˜ 1392 Mm
kilo k 103 Distances between cities –
Gee long to Sydney = 1090 km
hecto h 102 Rarely used except for square hectometers
(hectares ha or hm2) |
