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Appendix G - Weights and Measures
Note: At this time, only three countries - Burma, Liberia, and the US - have not adopted the International System of Units (SI, or metric system) as their official system of weights and measures. Although use of the metric system has been sanctioned by law in the US since 1866, it has been slow in displacing the American adaptation of the British Imperial System known as the US Customary System. The US is the only industrialized nation that does not mainly use the metric system in its commercial and standards activities, but there is increasing acceptance in science, medicine, government, and many sectors of industry.
Mathematical Notation
Mathematical Power Name
10^18 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 one quintillion 10^15 or 1,000,000,000,000,000 one quadrillion 10^12 or 1,000,000,000,000 one trillion 10^9 or 1,000,000,000 one billion 10^6 or 1,000,000 one million 10^3 or 1,000 one thousand 10^2 or 100 one hundred 10^1 or 10 ten 10^0 or 1 one 10^-1 or 0.1 one-tenth 10^-2 or 0.01 one-hundredth 10^-3 or 0.001 one-thousandth 10^-6 or 0.000 001 one-millionth 10^-9 or 0.000 000 001 one-billionth 10^-12 or 0.000 000 000 001 one-trillionth 10^-15 or 0.000 000 000 000 001 one-quadrillionth 10^-18 or 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 one-quintillionth
Metric Interrelationships
Prefix Symbol Length, weight, or capacity
yotta Y 10^24 zetta Z 10^21 exa E 10^18 peta P 10^15 tera T 10^12 giga G 10^9 mega M 10^6 kilo k 10^3 hecto h 10^2 deka da 10^1 basic unit - 1 meter, 1 gram, 1 liter deci d 10^-1 centi c 10^-2 milli m 10^-3 micro u 10^-6 nano n 10^-9 pico p 10^-12 femto f 10^-15 atto a 10^-18 zepto z 10^-21 yocto y 10^-24
Conversion Factors