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This
one of several cool little documents I used when
teaching math. I was also the de facto computer teacher for the middle
grades and they came in handy there too. The other documents are also posted
on the home page of the For Teachers section.
This chart is a great visual reference
combining and comparing numbers in exponential form, standard form, decimals and
words. It ties in nicely with the other documents. It exposes students to
unfamiliar terms and concepts, such as negative exponents and the word form of
amazingly large and small numbers.
Like the others, I'm not sure where I
got them but they have been useful over the years.
Note the numbers in the
"Since" column, which get more recent as the numbers get bigger and smaller.
If you're wondering where those weird prefixes come from, see the
Origin of units
page.
| 1000m |
10n |
Prefix |
Symbol |
Since |
Word form |
Decimal |
| 10008 |
1024 |
yotta |
Y |
1991 |
Septillion |
1000000000000000000000000 |
| 10007 |
1021 |
zetta |
Z |
1991 |
Sextillion |
1000000000000000000000 |
| 10006 |
1018 |
exa |
E |
1975 |
Quintillion |
1000000000000000000 |
| 10005 |
1015 |
peta |
P |
1975 |
Quadrillion |
1000000000000000 |
| 10004 |
1012 |
tera |
T |
1960 |
Trillion |
1000000000000 |
| 10003 |
109 |
giga |
G |
1960 |
Billion |
1000000000 |
| 10002 |
106 |
mega |
M |
1960 |
Million |
1000000 |
| 10001 |
103 |
kilo |
k |
1795 |
Thousand |
1000 |
| 10002⁄3 |
102 |
hecto |
h |
1795 |
Hundred |
100 |
| 10001⁄3 |
101 |
deca |
da |
1795 |
Ten |
10 |
| 10000 |
100 |
(none) |
(none) |
NA |
One |
1 |
| 1000−1⁄3 |
10−1 |
deci |
d |
1795 |
Tenth |
0.1 |
| 1000−2⁄3 |
10−2 |
centi |
c |
1795 |
Hundredth |
0.01 |
| 1000−1 |
10−3 |
milli |
m |
1795 |
Thousandth |
0.001 |
| 1000−2 |
10−6 |
micro |
µ |
1960 |
Millionth |
0.000001 |
| 1000−3 |
10−9 |
nano |
n |
1960 |
Billionth |
0.000000001 |
| 1000−4 |
10−12 |
pico |
p |
1960 |
Trillionth |
0.000000000001 |
| 1000−5 |
10−15 |
femto |
f |
1964 |
Quadrillionth |
0.000000000000001 |
| 1000−6 |
10−18 |
atto |
a |
1964 |
Quintillionth |
0.000000000000000001 |
| 1000−7 |
10−21 |
zepto |
z |
1991 |
Sextillionth |
0.000000000000000000001 |
| 1000−8 |
10−24 |
yocto |
y |
1991 |
Septillionth |
0.000000000000000000000001 |
|