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10TH GRADE · SI AND MAGNITUDE SCALES

Decimal prefixes

Prefixes from pico to tera and working with powers of ten.

12 minutes5 theory cards
Open interactive lesson

LESSON MATERIAL

Basic Concepts

1

Decimal prefix

Part of the name of the unit that specifies the multiplier as a power of ten.

The prefix changes the scale of the unit, not the type of quantity: “milli” means multiplying by 10⁻³, and “kilo” means multiplying by 10³.

LESSON MATERIAL

Lesson formulas

4

Attachments for small quantities

piko=10−12,nano=10−9,mikro=10−6\mathrm{piko}=10^{-12},\quad\mathrm{nano}=10^{-9},\quad\mathrm{mikro}=10^{-6}

Pico, nano and micro define very small fractions of the original unit.

Milli, centi and deci

milli=10−3,santi=10−2,detsi=10−1\mathrm{milli}=10^{-3},\quad\mathrm{santi}=10^{-2},\quad\mathrm{detsi}=10^{-1}

Milli, centi and deci subtract from the original unit.

Deca, hecto and kilo

deka=101,gekto=102,kilo=103\mathrm{deka}=10^1,\quad\mathrm{gekto}=10^2,\quad\mathrm{kilo}=10^3

Deca, hecto and kilo increase the original unit.

Mega, giga and tera

mega=106,giga=109,tera=1012\mathrm{mega}=10^6,\quad\mathrm{giga}=10^9,\quad\mathrm{tera}=10^{12}

Mega, giga and tera set large multipliers.