METRIC SYSTEM AND POWERS OF TEN
Basic Electrical Theory
To use the prefixes listed in Table A-4, divide the value of the unit by the value of the prefix,
and then add the prefix to the unit.
TABLE A-4
METRIC PREFIXES USED in ELECTRICITY
Prefix
(letter symbol)
Value
mega (M)
million
1,000,000
kilo (k)
thousand
1,000
milli (m)
thousandth
0.001
micro (µ)
millionth
0.000,001
nano (n)
thousand-millionth
0.000,000,001
pico (p)
million-millionth
0.000,000,000,001
Powers of Ten
Another way to express large and small values is to convert the value to powers of 10. This is
a convenient way to express values and keep the units in the basic unit notation, rather than
converting from one unit of measure to another unit that may be larger or smaller, as we did in
metric prefixes above.
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Page A-4
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