Term Symbol Multiple Sci Notn

Units Eg. meters 1

kilo k 1 000

milli m 1 / 1 000

Mega M 1 000 000

Giga G 1 000 000 000

Terra T 1 000 000 000 000

micro μ 1 / 1 000 000

nano n 1 / 1 000 000 000

pico p 1 / 1000 000 000 000

x 100 x 103

x 106 x 109 x 1012

x 10-3 x 10-6 x 10-9

x 10-12

Scientific Notation

A way of making large numbers more manageable

100,000 Volts

Kilo-Volts

We divide the number by 1000100,000 1000 =

100 kV

Mega-Volts

We divide the number by 1000100 1000 =

0.1 MV

A way of making large numbers more manageable

1,245,000 Volts

Kilo-Volts

We divide the number by 10001,245,000 1000

=

1,245 kV

Mega-Volts

We divide the number by 10001,245 1000 =

1.245 MV

A way of making Small numbers more manageable

0.000,001 Volts

milli-Volts

We multiply the number by 10000.000,001 x 1000 =

0.001 mV

micro-Volts

We multiply the number by 10000.001 x 1000 =

1 µV

A way of making Small numbers more manageable

0.000,258,1 Volts

milli-Volts

We multiply the number by 10000.000,258,1 x 1000 =

0.258,1 mV

micro-Volts

We multiply the number by 10000.258,1 x 1000 =

258.1 µV

If we want to convert back to a base unit

1,245,000 µV

mV

We divide the number by 10001,245,000 1000

=

1,245 mV

V

We divide the number by 10001,245 1000 =

1.245 V

If we want to convert back to a base unit

1.25 MV

kV

We multiply the number by 10001.25 x 1000 =

1,250 kV

Volts

We multiply the number by 10001,250 x 1000 =

1,250,000 V

If we want to convert a number to a multiple above

µV

mV

We divide the number by 1000

1.25 1000 =

1.25 µV

0.001,25 mV

If we want to convert a number to a multiple below

mV

V

We multiply the number by 1000

1.25 x 1000 =

1.25 V

1,250 mV