Decimal prefixes

By adding a decimal unit prefix after a unit, we change the magnitude (power of 10) of the unit/amount.

For example, 1 kilometre (km) is metres (m), or metres.

Prefix	Symbol	Factor
femto	f
pico	p
nano	n
micro	µ
milli	m
centi	c
deci	d
kilo	k
mega	M
giga	G
tera	T
peta	P

Example conversions

Example: Convert 5 kilometres to metres.

• 1 kilometre (km) = metres (m)
• Therefore, 5 km = m = 5000 m

Example: Convert 2500 milligrams to grams.

• 1 milligram (mg) = grams (g)
• Therefore, 2500 mg = g =

Example: Convert 3 megabytes to bytes.

• 1 megabyte (MB) = bytes (B)
• Therefore, 3 MB = B = B

Example: Convert 0.75 gigawatts to watts.

• 1 gigawatt (GW) = watts (W)
• Therefore, 0.75 GW = W = W

Example: Convert 120 centimeters to meters.

• 1 centimeter (cm) = meters (m)
• Therefore, 120 cm = m = m

Example: Convert 0.005 terabytes to megabytes.

• 1 terabyte (TB) = bytes (B)
• 1 megabyte (MB) = bytes (B)
• Therefore, 0.005 TB = B = B = MB

Example: Convert 732 femtometers to meters

• 1 femtometer (fm) = meters (m)
• Therefore, 732 fm = m = m