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    Metric Prefixes

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    michaelcvienna
    The document provides information on metric prefixes used to denote magnitudes of measurement. It lists prefixes from yotta to yocto and their corresponding symbols and how they multiply the base unit. Converting within the metric system is easy by moving the decimal place correctly. Some examples of conversions between gigagrams and grams and meters to nanometers are provided. The base SI units for common measurements are also listed. The document notes temperature is usually the only exception, providing formulas to convert between Celsius and Fahrenheit and examples. It suggests an easy memorization of four Celsius temperatures as references.

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    Metric Prefixes

    Uploaded by

    michaelcvienna
    333 views2 pages
    The document provides information on metric prefixes used to denote magnitudes of measurement. It lists prefixes from yotta to yocto and their corresponding symbols and how they multiply the base unit. Converting within the metric system is easy by moving the decimal place correctly. Some examples of conversions between gigagrams and grams and meters to nanometers are provided. The base SI units for common measurements are also listed. The document notes temperature is usually the only exception, providing formulas to convert between Celsius and Fahrenheit and examples. It suggests an easy memorization of four Celsius temperatures as references.

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    The document provides information on metric prefixes used to denote magnitudes of measurement. It lists prefixes from yotta to yocto and their corresponding symbols and how they multiply the base unit. Converting within the metric system is easy by moving the decimal place correctly. Some examples of conversions between gigagrams and grams and meters to nanometers are provided. The base SI units for common measurements are also listed. The document notes temperature is usually the only exception, providing formulas to convert between Celsius and Fahrenheit and examples. It suggests an easy memorization of four Celsius temperatures as references.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    333 views2 pages

    Metric Prefixes

    Uploaded by

    michaelcvienna
    The document provides information on metric prefixes used to denote magnitudes of measurement. It lists prefixes from yotta to yocto and their corresponding symbols and how they multiply the base unit. Converting within the metric system is easy by moving the decimal place correctly. Some examples of conversions between gigagrams and grams and meters to nanometers are provided. The base SI units for common measurements are also listed. The document notes temperature is usually the only exception, providing formulas to convert between Celsius and Fahrenheit and examples. It suggests an easy memorization of four Celsius temperatures as references.

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     The Metric Prefixes  


    Prefix: Symbol: Magnitude: Meaning (multiply by):
    Yotta- Y 1024 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
    Zetta- Z 1021 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
    Exa- E 1018 1 000 000 000 000 000 000
    Peta- P 1015 1 000 000 000 000 000
    Tera- T 1012 1 000 000 000 000
    Giga- G 109 1 000 000 000
    Mega- M 106 1 000 000
    myria- my 104 10 000 (this is now obsolete)
    kilo- k 103 1000
    hecto- h 102 100
    deka- da 10 10
    - - - -
    deci- d 10-1 0.1
    centi- c 10-2 0.01
    milli- m 10-3 0.001
    micro- m (mu) 10-6 0.000 001
    nano- n 10-9 0.000 000 001
    pico- p 10-12 0.000 000 000 001
    femto- f 10-15 0.000 000 000 000 001
    atto- a 10-18 0.000 000 000 000 000 001
    zepto- z 10-21 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001
    yocto- y 10-24 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001

    Converting within the metric system becomes very easy with a little practice. It is simply
    a matter of moving the decimal the proper number of places, in the correct direction! For
    example: 27 000 000 000 grams would be 27 gigagrams, and 0.000 000 045 meters
    would be 45 nanometers.

    SI base units
    Base quantity Name Symbol
    length meter m
    mass kilogram       kg
    time second s
    electric current ampere A
    o
    temperature       degree C
    amount of substance mole mol
    Information (computer memory) byte b
    You will almost never need to convert between the metric and the English systems in
    biology. We will simply do everything in metric to start with. The exception is
    temperature. On occasion you may need to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius.

    1 degree Celsius = 9/5 degree Fahrenheit - 32


    1 degree Fahrenheit = 5/9 degree Celsius + 32

    So, if the weather report in Canada says it will be 40O outside, you know that the
    temperature will be 32+(9/5)(40)=104 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Not very usual for
    Canada!

    The easy way to do this in your head is to just double the Celsius and add 30. For the
    former problem, that would be 80+30=110. Note that this overestimates the temperature
    by a larger and larger margin as you get far away from zero (freezing). But for the range
    in which living things are common, it gives you a good quick estimate. For example, 20
    degrees Celsius is (2*20) + 30 = 70 degrees by the estimate. Using the exact conversion,
    it is 68 degrees.

    Memorize four temperatures in Celsius and you will never go wrong:

    0 is freezing point of water


    100 is boiling point of water
    25 is “room temperature”
    37 is human body temperature

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