In math, you often use prefixes to write large and small numbers in a simpler way. For example, 2 million byte is much easier to write as 2 megabyte or
Theory
giga | G | billion | |
mega | M | million | |
kilo | k | thousand | |
hecto | h | hundred | |
deka | da | ten | |
deci | d | one tenth | |
centi | c | one hundredth | |
milli | m | one thousandth | |
micro | μ | one millionth | |
nano | n | one billionth | |
Example 1
Uncle Sam bought
Hecto (h) means “hundred”. That means Uncle Sam bought
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of candy.
Example 2
One stage of the cycling race Tour de France can be 192 kilometers (km) long. How many meters is that?
Kilo (k) means “1000”. Thus, the boys ride
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The stage is
Example 3
Albert Einstein was in the laboratory playing with a microscope. While playing, he saw an organism weighing 521 micrograms. How many grams is that?
Micro (μ) means millionth. Thus, the organism weighed
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Note! You switch the prefix with the numeric value of the prefix.