PREFIXES OF THE UNITS OF MEASURE

Prefixes allow numbers to be presented in a manageable way.

For example, saying or writing that a substance weighs 0.000000000001g is much more
complicated and cumbersome to say or write that it weighs 1pg (picogram) or 1000ng
(nanograms).
In general, figures are expressed in their simplest form, so that when they
when they want to compare two figures it is crucial that the reader knows the prefixes and understands the
differences between them.
 PREFIXES OF THE SYSTEM
INTERNATIONAL
The prefixes of the International System are used to name the multiples and submultiples.
of any unit of theYESwhetherbasic units oderivativesThese prefixes are
They precede the unit name to indicate the decimal multiple or submultiple of the
same; in the same way, the symbols of the prefixes are placed before the symbols of the
units.
The prefixes belonging to the SI are officially established by theInternational Bureau of Weights and Measures
Measures(International Bureau of Weights and Measures), according to the following table:
 THE PREFIXES OF THE SYSTEM
INTERNATIONAL
Two or more prefixes cannot be placed together: for example, 10-9metros must be written
like 1 nm, not 1 mµm.
One must take into account the prefixes before the powers. For example, 'km²' is
square kilometer, not square meter. For example, 3 km² is 3,000,000 m², not
3,000 m² (nor 9,000,000 m²). That is to say, the SI prefixes, instead of thousands, are
they are converted into multipliers of a million in the case of powers of 2, of a billion in
the case of the powers of 3. Therefore, it is likely that it will be necessary to use numbers
large, even if all the prefixes are used.
Prefixes whose power is a multiple of three are better. Therefore, it is preferable to use
100 m is equal to 1 hm. However, there are some important exceptions: thecentimeter,
thehectare(hectoarea) the centiliter, the hectoliter, the cubic decimeter (equivalent to
aliter), thehectopascaland thedecibel(one tenth of a coin).
The prefixes myria- and myrio-, which have become obsolete, were abandoned before the
If it had come into effect in 1960, probably for not following the same model as the rest of
prefixes, due to the lack of suitable symbols to represent them (by then already the
they used the symbols M, m, and µ) and because, in general, they are little used.
The following combinations of prefixes and quantities are not used regularly, even
in the fields of science and engineering:

Mass: hectogram, gram, milligram, microgram and other smaller units are
are often used. The megagram and other larger units, on the other hand, are not usually used.
usually; instead, the ton or thescientific notation. Sometimes the
Megagram is used to differentiate the metric ton from the non-metric ton.

Volumen en litros:litro, decilitro, centilitro, mililitro, microlitro y otras unidades más pequeñas
are often used. Larger volumes are sometimes given in hectoliters; in
other in cubic meters or in cubic kilometers; also in cubic hectometers.

Length: kilometer, meter, decimeter, centimeter, millimeter and often larger units
small. Larger units such as megameters, gigameters or others, rarely.
Theastronomical unit, the light year and theparsecthey are often used, on the other hand; in the
the SI regulation, the astronomical unit is listed as an acceptable unit but
officially out of the system.

Time: second, millisecond, microsecond, and other smaller units are

habitual. The kilosecond and themegasecondthey are also used on occasions, although
certain forms of scientific notation or hours, minutes and are more common
other units that denote times as long or longer than those units.
Although previously inUnited Kingdom, Ireland, AustraliayNew Zealand was used
thelarge scaleto name the numbers, currently and increasingly they use thescale
shortIt is important to note that above one million and below one millionth,
equal names have different meanings in both the short and long systems, so
numbers in the order of a billion to a trillion, for example, can be confusing at the level
international. The use of SI prefixes may be the path to overcoming
this problem.

Employment outside the SI.- The symbol 'K' (in uppercase) is often used with the meaning
of multiple of a thousand; therefore, it can be written 'salary of 40K' (of 40,000 euros) or 'the
Y2K problem.[citation needed] Despite the usual employment, this employment of the capital K
it is not correct in the SI, as it is the symbol for units of temperatureKelvinEmployment
the abbreviation Ki is used to represent thebinary prefixkibi (210= 1024).

Units outside the SI - In the 1790s, when the system was established
Metric, prefixes already existed long before the SI came into force in 1960. The prefixes
(including those arising after the implementation of the SI) are used with any unit,
including those that do not belong to the SI (for example themilidyne).

Computer ScienceBinary prefix

Multiples ofbytes
International System (decimal) ISO/IEC 80000-13 (binary)

Multiple (symbol) YES Multiple (symbol) ISO/IEC

kilobyte(kB) 103 kibibyte(KiB) 210
megabyte(MB) 106 mebibyte(MiB) 220
gigabyte(GB) 109 gibibyte(GiB) 230
terabyte(TB) 1012 tebibyte(TiB) 240
petabyte(PB) 1015 pebibyte(PiB) 250
exabyte(EB) 1018 exbibyte(EiB) 260
zettabyte(ZB) 1021 zebibyte(ZiB) 270
yottabyte(YB) 1024 yobibyte(YiB) 280
The multiples of the unit are common in the field ofcomputers, being
employees in information and storage type unitsbitybyte. Being 210=
1024 and 103= 1000, the SI prefixes are used following the law of binary prefixes,
as can be seen in the following lines.
k = 2101,024
M = 2201,048,576
G = 2301,073,741,824
T = 2401,099,511,627,776
P = 2501,125,899,906,842,624
In any case, these prefixes maintain the meaning of the powers of 1000 when
What it's about is expressing the speed of data [Link] of bits):
the netEthernetof 10Mbit/sit is capable of transmitting 10,000,000 bit/s, and not 10,485,760 bit/s.
The problem worsens due to the lack of information [Link] units.
In the SI, the bit, the byte, thebaudioor theamount of signswould occur inhertzAlthough it is
it's clearer to use 'bit' for thebity "b" for thebyte, it is often used 'b' for the bit and
"B" for the byte (in the SI, B is the unit of bel, being the one ofdecibel dB).
In this way, the International Electrotechnical CommissionInternational Electrotechnical
Commission--IEC--elected new onesbinary prefixesin 1998, which consists of placing a
'bi' after the first syllable of the decimal prefix (with the binary symbol being like the decimal more)
a 'i'). Therefore, now akilobyte(1 kB) is 1000 bytes, and a kibibyte(1 KiB) = 210bytes
1024 octets or bytes. Similarly, a mebibyte = MiB = 220bytes, one gibibyte = 1
GiB = 230bytes, tebi (Ti; 240), pebi (Pi; 250) and exbi (Ei; 260). Although the IEC standard says nothing
say about this, the following prefixes would reach up to zebi (Zi; 270) y yobi (Yi; 280Until
The employment of these last ones has been very scarce.

Proposed extensions.- Continuing backward in the alphabet, traszettayyotta, among

the proposals to name the following large numbers are found in
wordsxintayxona (among others), the latter being a modification of the numerical suffix
coming fromLatingrandmotherthe proposal for the following small numbers as well
I would start with 'x'.
Following the abbreviation rule of the prefixes (the uppercase letters of theLatinfor
large amounts and the lowercase for small amounts), and despite not having a
agreement in the full name, the following could be used, without ambiguity,
prefixes: X, W, V, x, w, v. The symbol for the next small quantity prefix in that
order would be the "u", a substitution of "µ" (symbol of "micro" or "micra") based on theISO
2955).
Even so, not all readers understand many of the official prefixes, and even less their
extrapolations. Therefore, and unlike writing for personal use, it is advisable
write a brief explanation when it comes to an article that they need to understand
third parties.
Another proposal for xenta/xona esnovetta, from the Italian nove. However, this proposal
does not take alphabetical order into account
There are proposals to take the harmonization of symbols further. According to the
the same, the symbols of the prefixes deca, hecto, and kilo instead of 'da', 'h' and 'k' should
"D", "H", and "K", respectively. Similarly, some speak of the suppression of
all those prefixes that do not fall under the 10 scheme±3 × n, that is, hecto, deca, deci and
centi. TheCGPMhas postponed, for the time being, the making of a concrete decision on both
proposals.

One must exercise caution in the use of suffixes with units whose powers are not
±1. Before the power, the prefix is always taken into account. To measure volumes still
the term is usedliterequivalent to one thousandth of a cubic meter (0.001 m³), is
a cubic decimeter (1 dm³). A cubic centimeter (cm³) is one millionth part of
a cubic meter (0.000 001 m³). And a cubic millimeter (mm³) is the billionth part of
one cubic meter (0.000 000 001 m³).
Summary of employment rules
According to the general principles adopted by (ISO 31), the international committee of
the International System of Units (SI) recommends that the following rules be observed when
they use the aforementioned prefixes:
The symbols of the prefixes must be written in lowercase letters and without leaving space between them.
these and the symbol of the unit of measurement.
The groups formed by the prefix symbol and the unit symbol constitute a new
inseparable symbol (multiple or submultiple of the unit in question) that can be
raised to a positive or negative power and combined with another unit symbol for
form a compound unit.
Examples:
1 cm³ = (10-2m)3= 10-6m³
1 µs-1(10-6s)-1= 106s-1
1 V/cm = (1 V)/(10-2m) = 102V/m
1 cm-1=(10-2m)-1= 102m-1.

No prefixes formed by the juxtaposition of more prefixes will be used.

Example: 1 nm (correct), 1 mµm (incorrect).
Isolated prefixes will not be used, that is, without a unit to express that power.
Example: 106/m³ (correct), M/m³ (incorrect).

PREFIXES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

Prefixes are acronyms that are indicated just before the unit and allow multiplication or division.
its value in such a way that a certain amount can be expressed with fewer digits.