Through a standard, a greatness assigning it units. These units can be written in function of some prefixes that make life easier for some people, depending on the value ranges they work with.
The length can be used as an example, No. International System of Units, it is measured in meters (m), but in everyday life, we find several measures of this magnitude in kilometers (km),centimeters (cm), millimeters (mm) and a few more.
In the following table, we will see all the prefixes recognized by General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) associated with the symbol, the decimal equivalent and the respective base ten power.
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Instruments used in measurements
Example of everyday application
Knowing these prefixes followed by their unit, we can solve confusions like: 2000 g of meat have more mass than 2 kg?
2kg = 2000g
2.103g = 2000g
2000g = 2000g
When there is equivalence between the measures, replacing the prefix by the power of base 10 makes the values equal, since you are looking to put them with the same units.
By Frederico Borges de Almeida
Graduated in Physics
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
ALMEIDA, Frederico Borges de. "International System of Units Prefixes"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/fisica/prefixos-sistema-internacional-unidades.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
