Metric Prefixes
Often in electronics, you will need to use units that are much larger or smaller than the standard volt, ampere, or ohm. To do so, you can attach a metric prefix before the unit. The following table shows many of the standard prefixes used.
| Prefix | Symbol | Decimal Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| yotta | Y | 1×1024 |
| zetta | Z | 1×1021 |
| exa | E | 1×1018 |
| peta | P | 1×1015 |
| tera | T | 1×1012 |
| giga | G | 1×109 |
| mega | M | 1×106 |
| kilo | k | 1×103 |
| hecto | h | 1×102 |
| deca | da | 1×101 |
| deci | d | 1×10-1 |
| centi | c | 1×10-2 |
| milli | m | 1×10-3 |
| micro | μ | 1×10-6 |
| nano | n | 1×10-9 |
| pico | p | 1×10-12 |
| femto | f | 1×10-15 |
| atto | a | 1×10-18 |
| zepto | z | 1×10-21 |
| yocto | y | 1×10-24 |
As examples: 0.004 amperes can be written as 4 mA (milliamperes) and 6.2 MΩ (MegaOhms) is the same as 6,200,000 Ω