| MadSci Network: Computer Science |
The International System of Units (SI) uses the following prefixes for orders of magnitude:
| Factor | Prefix | Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| 10-24 | yocto | y |
| 10-21 | zepto | z |
| 10-18 | atto | a |
| 10-15 | femto | f |
| 10-12 | pico | p |
| 10-9 | nano | n |
| 10-6 | micro | µ |
| 10-3 | milli | m |
| 10-2 | centi | c |
| 10-1 | deci | d |
| 101 | deca | da |
| 102 | hecto | h |
| 103 | kilo | k |
| 106 | mega | M |
| 109 | giga | G |
| 1012 | tera | T |
| 1015 | peta | P |
| 1018 | exa | E |
| 1021 | zetta | Z |
| 1024 | yotta | Y |
It is worth noting, that bytes are ordered by binary magnitudes, such that a kilobyte is 210 bytes rather than 103 bytes. Thus, the factors for Mbytes, Gbytes, Tbytes, Pbytes, Ebytes, Zbytes, and Ybytes are 220, 230, 240, 250, 260,270, and 280, respectively. Also, not all prefixes are applicable to all units, for example, 1 yoctomole (yM) would represent 0.6 atoms or molecules, which contradicts their chemical definition.
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