This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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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