SCALES OF MEASUREMENT

THE METER ... THE GRAM ... THE SECOND ... THE ITEM

A note on the naming of numbers over 999,999,999 and numbers less than .000,001:

The Long Scale was first, originating in France. The major names occur every power of one million (6 digits).
Britain adopted the Long Scale by the early 1600s. Dots were placed every 6 digits.
In the mid-1600s, France and Italy started placing commas every 3 digits.
At nearly the same time, French usage changed to the Short Scale. Major names occur every power of one thousand (3 digits).
The French brought the Short Scale to the American colonies. The US always used the Short Scale.
Most European, Spanish Speaking, and Portuguese-Speaking countries adopted the Long Scale.
In 1961, the French Government changed all French speaking nations to the Long Scale.
In 1974, the British Government changed to the Short Scale.
Most English-Speaking and Arab countries, Brazil, and Russia now use the Short Scale.
Canada, South Africa, Namibia, and Antarctica use both scales, depending on the language spoken.
East and Southeast Asia, and Greenland have languages with numbers not based on powers of one thousand. Some use myriads.

THE METRIC PREFIXES APPLIED TO THE METER, WITH EXAMPLES

name	prefix	10^x	example	U.S. - Short Scale	Europe - Long Scale
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1 yoctometer	1 ym	10^-24 m	-	1 septillionth meter	1 quadrillionth meter
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1 zeptometer	1 zm	10^-21 m	-	1 sextillionth meter	1 trilliardth meter
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1 attometer	1 am	10^-18 m	-	1 quintillionth meter	1 trillionth meter
10 attometers	10 am	10^-17 m	(smaller than anything known)
100 attometers	100 am	10^-16 m	Quark
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1 femtometer	1 fm	10^-15 m	Proton	1 quadrillionth meter	1 billiardth meter
10 femtometers	10 fm	10^-14 m	Carbon atom nucleus
100 femtometers	100 fm	10^-13 m	Space around nucleus
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1 picometer	1 pm	10^-12 m	Electron	1 trillionth meter	1 billionth meter
10 picometers	10 pm	10^-11 m	Innermost s electron orbital
100 picometers	100 pm	10^-10 m	Entire carbon atom
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1 nanometer	1 nm	10^-9 m	One nucleotide base	1 billionth meter	1 milliardth meter
10 nanometers	10 nm	10^-8 m	RNA strand
100 nanometers	100 nm	10^-7 m	Ultraviolet wavelength, Small chromosome
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1 micrometer (micron)	1 um	10^-6 m	Microwaves, Cell nucleus	1 millionth meter	1 millionth meter
10 micrometers	10 um	10^-5 m	Cell (biology), phonograph groove width
100 micrometer	100 um	10^-4 m	Cluster of cells
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1 millimeter	1 mm	10^-3 m	Average integrated circuit chip	1 thousandth meter	1 thousandth meter
1 centimeter	1 cm	10^-2 m	Fingernail, Dime	1 hundredth meter	1 hundredth meter
1 decimeter	1 dm	10^-1 m	Paperback novel, Maple leaf	1 tenth meter	1 tenth meter
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1 meter	1 m	10⁰ m	Couch cushion, TV set	1 meter	1 meter
1 dekameter	1 Dm (or dkm)	10¹ m	Small house, Oak tree	10 meters	10 meters
1 hectometer	1 Hm	10² m	Court house, Orchard	100 meters	100 meters
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1 kilometer	1 Km	10³ m	Grand Coulee Dam	1 thousand meters	1 thousand meters
1 myriameter	1 Mym = 10 Km	10⁴ m	Tallahassee FL	10 thousand meters	10 thousand meters
100 kilometer	100 Km	10⁵ m	Great Salt Lake UT
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1 megameter	1 Mm	10⁶ m	The state of Florida	1 million meters	1 million meters
10 megameters	10 Mm	10⁷ m	Earth
100 megameters	100 Mm	10⁸ m	Satellite orbits (large)
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1 gigameter	1 Gm	10⁹ m	Orbit of the Moon	1 billion meters	1 milliard meters
10 gigameters	10 Gm	10¹⁰ m	The Sun & corona, Neptune's moon orbits
100 gigameter	100 Gm	10¹¹ m	Orbit of Mercury
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1 terameter	1 Tm	10¹² m	Orbit of Ceres, Antares diameter	1 trillion meters	1 billion meters
10 terameters	10 Tm	10¹³ m	Orbit of Neptune, Epsilon Aurigae diam.
100 terameters	100 Tm	10¹⁴ m	Solar System and Oort cloud
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1 petameter	1 Pm	10¹⁵ m	Sun's major gravity influence	1 quadrillion meters	1 billiard meters
10 petameters	10 Pm	10¹⁶ m	Distance light travels in a year
100 petameters	100 Pm	10¹⁷ m	Distance to Sirius
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1 exameter	1 Em	10¹⁸ m	Distance to the Hyades cluster	1 quintillion meters	1 trillion meters
10 exameters	10 Em	10¹⁹ m	Distance to the Orion Nebula (M42)
100 exameters	100 Em	10²⁰ m	The Sun's star cloud in the Orion Arm
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1 zettameter	1 Zm	10²¹ m	The Orion spiral arm of the Milky Way	1 sextillion meters	1 trilliard meters
10 zettameters	10 Zm	10²² m	The Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds
100 zettameters	100 Zm	10²³ m	Distance to Andromeda Galaxy
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1 yottameter	1 Ym	10²⁴ m	Distance to the Hydra cluster of galaxies	1 septillion meters	1 quadrillion meters
10 yottameters	10 Ym	10²⁵ m	Distance to quasars
100 yottameters	100 Ym	10²⁶ m	Distance of the farthest observed objects
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THE METRIC PREFIXES APPLIED TO THE GRAM, WITH EXAMPLES

name	prefix	10^x	example	U.S. - Short Scale	Europe - Long Scale
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.001 yoctogram	.001 yg	10^-27 g	Electron	1 octillionth gram	1 quadrilliardth gram
.01 yoctograms	.01 yg	10^-26 g	down quark
.1 yoctograms	.1 yg	10^-25 g	Muon, pion
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1 yoctogram	1 yg	10^-24 g	Hydrogen atom, proton, neutron	1 septillionth gram	1 quadrillionth gram
10 yoctograms	10 yg	10^-23 g	Lithium atom
100 yoctograms	100 yg	10^-22 g	Acetic acid molecule
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1 zeptogram	1 zg	10^-21 g	One DNA base pair	1 sextillionth gram	1 trilliardth gram
10 zeptograms	10 zg	10^-20 g	Buckminsterfullerene molecule C60
100 zeptograms	100 zg	10^-19 g	Hemoglobin
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1 attogram	1 ag	10^-18 g	Small virus	1 quintillionth gram	1 trillionth gram
10 attograms	10 ag	10^-17 g	Polyethylene molecule
100 attograms	100 ag	10^-16 g	Ribosome
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1 femtogram	1 fg	10^-15 g	Large virus	1 quadrillionth gram	1 billiardth gram
10 femtograms	10 fg	10^-14 g	Chromosome (small)
100 femtograms	100 fg	10^-13 g	Small cell nucleus
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1 picogram	1 pg	10^-12 g	Bacterium	1 trillionth gram	1 billionth gram
10 picograms	10 pg	10^-11 g	DNA in human cell (total)
100 picograms	100 pg	10^-10 g	Human red blood cell
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1 nanogram	1 ng	10^-9 g	Average human cell	1 billionth gram	1 milliardth gram
10 nanograms	10 ng	10^-8 g	Fine dust mote
100 nanograms	100 ng	10^-7 g	Small grain of sand
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1 microgram	1 ug	10^-6 g	Human egg cell	1 millionth gram	1 millionth gram
10 micrograms	10 ug	10^-5 g	Minimum DNA evidence for ID
100 microgram	100 ug	10^-4 g	Phono stylus diamond
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1 milligram	1 mg	10^-3 g	Fruit fly	1 thousandth gram	1 thousandth gram
1 centigram	1 cg	10^-2 g	Housefly	1 hundredth gram	1 hundredth gram
1 decigram	1 dg	10^-1 g	Half carat diamond, honeybee	1 tenth gram	1 tenth gram
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1 gram	1 g	10⁰ g	Paper clip	1 gram	1 gram
1 dekagram	1 Dg (or dkg)	10¹ g	Pencil	10 grams	10 grams
1 hectogram	1 Hg	10² g	DVD in its case	100 grams	100 grams
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1 kilogram	1 Kg	10³ g	Pair of shoes	1 thousand grams	1 thousand grams
1 myriagram	1 Myg = 10 Kg	10⁴ g	Home computer, shot put	10 thousand grams	10 thousand grams
100 kilogram	100 Kg	10⁵ g	Adult human
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1 megagram	1 Mg	10⁶ g	Small car	1 million grams	1 million grams
10 megagrams	10 Mg	10⁷ g	School bus
100 megagrams	100 Mg	10⁸ g	House
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1 gigagram	1 Gg	10⁹ g	Space shuttle ready to launch	1 billion grams	1 milliard grams
10 gigagrams	10 Gg	10¹⁰ g	Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower
100 gigagram	100 Gg	10¹¹ g	Empire State Building
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1 teragram	1 Tg	10¹² g	Golden Gate Bridge	1 trillion grams	1 billion grams
10 teragrams	10 Tg	10¹³ g	Hoover Dam
100 teragrams	100 Tg	10¹⁴ g	Apophis (asteroid)
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1 petagram	1 Pg	10¹⁵ g	Geographos (asteroid)	1 quadrillion grams	1 billiard grams
10 petagrams	10 Pg	10¹⁶ g	Halley's Comet
100 petagrams	100 Pg	10¹⁷ g	Comet Tempel
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1 exagram	1 Eg	10¹⁸ g	Deimos (Mars moon)	1 quintillion grams	1 trillion grams
10 exagrams	10 Eg	10¹⁹ g	Phobos (Mars moon)
100 exagrams	100 Eg	10²⁰ g	Eros (Asteroid), Pandora (Saturn moon)
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1 zettagram	1 Zg	10²¹ g	Amalthea (Jupiter moon)	1 sextillion grams	1 trilliard grams
10 zettagrams	10 Zg	10²² g	Phoebe (Saturn moon)
100 zettagrams	100 Zg	10²³ g	Enceladus (Saturn moon)
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1 yottagram	1 Yg	10²⁴ g	Dione (Saturn moon)	1 septillion grams	1 quadrillion grams
10 yottagrams	10 Yg	10²⁵ g	Moon (Earth moon), Pluto (dwarf planet)
100 yottagrams	100 Yg	10²⁶ g	Mercury (planet), Ganymede (Jupiter moon)
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1000 yottagrams	1000 Yg	10²⁷ g	Mars (planet)	1 octillion grams	1 quadrilliard grams
10000 yottagrams	10000 Yg	10²⁸ g	Earth (planet)
100000 yottagrams	100000 Yg	10²⁹ g	Neptune (planet)
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THE METRIC PREFIXES APPLIED TO THE SECOND, WITH EXAMPLES

name	prefix	10^x	example	U.S. - Short Scale	Europe - Long Scale
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1 yoctosecond	1 ys	10^-24 s	Quark emits a gluon	1 septillionth second	1 quadrillionth second
10 yoctoseconds	10 ys	10^-23 s	(no known item)
100 yoctoseconds	100 ys	10^-22 s	(no known item)
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1 zeptosecond	1 zs	10^-21 s	Mean lifetime of Higgs boson	1 sextillionth second	1 trilliardth second
10 zeptoseconds	10 zs	10^-20 s	One cycle of a gamma ray
100 zeptoseconds	100 zs	10^-19 s	One cycle, middle of X-ray band
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1 attosecond	1 as	10^-18 s	Twice the mean lifetime of the eta particle	1 quintillionth second	1 trillionth second
10 attoseconds	10 as	10^-17 s	Shortest event time ever measured
100 attoseconds	100 as	10^-16 s	Mean lifetime of neutral pion
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1 femtosecond	1 fs	10^-15 s	One cycle of near ultraviolet light	1 quadrillionth second	1 billiardth second
10 femtoseconds	10 fs	10^-14 s	One cycle of infrared light
100 femtoseconds	100 fs	10^-13 s	Very fast two-atom chemical reaction
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1 picosecond	1 ps	10^-12 s	Fastest transistor switching time	1 trillionth second	1 billionth second
10 picoseconds	10 ps	10^-11 s	Light travels about 3 millimeters
100 picoseconds	100 ps	10^-10 s	Time accuracy of GPS signals
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1 nanosecond	1 ns	10^-9 s	Average time for one computer instruction	1 billionth second	1 milliardth second
10 nanoseconds	10 ns	10^-8 s	One generation in a fission chain reaction
100 nanoseconds	100 ns	10^-7 s	Total time of nuclear bomb fission
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1 microsecond	1 us	10^-6 s	One cycle of an AM-band radio signal	1 millionth second	1 millionth second
10 microseconds	10 us	10^-5 s	Light travels 3 kilometers
100 microsecond	100 us	10^-4 s	London Stock Exchange executes one trade
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1 millisecond	1 ms	10^-3 s	Duration of electronic photography flash	1 thousandth second	1 thousandth second
1 centisecond	1 cs	10^-2 s	Complete bumblebee wing flap	1 hundredth second	1 hundredth second
1 decisecond	1 ds	10^-1 s	Complete giant hummingbird wing flap	1 tenth second	1 tenth second
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1 second	1 s	10⁰ s	Average human heartbeat	1 second	1 second
1 dekasecond	1 Ds (or dks)	10¹ s	Sound travels 2 miles	10 seconds	10 seconds
1 hectosecond	1 Hs	10² s	Average time of a news story on TV	100 seconds	100 seconds
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1 kilosecond	1 Ks	10³ s	Time for light to cross Jupiter's orbit	1 thousand seconds	1 thousand seconds
1 myriasecond	1 Myg = 10 Ks	10⁴ s	TV Prime time, minus trips to the kitchen	10 thousand seconds	10 thousand seconds
100 kilosecond	100 Ks	10⁵ s	One day and part of another
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1 megasecond	1 Ms	10⁶ s	2-week vacation	1 million seconds	1 million seconds
10 megaseconds	10 Ms	10⁷ s	College semester
100 megaseconds	100 Ms	10⁸ s	A little over 3 years
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1 gigasecond	1 Gs	10⁹ s	Half an average human lifetime	1 billion seconds	1 milliard seconds
10 gigaseconds	10 Gs	10¹⁰ s	3 centuries
100 gigasecond	100 Gs	10¹¹ s	Time since King David ruled Israel
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1 terasecond	1 Ts	10¹² s	Light we see left the center of the Milky Way	1 trillion seconds	1 billion seconds
10 teraseconds	10 Ts	10¹³ s	Light passes Milky Way & Magellanic Clouds
100 teraseconds	100 Ts	10¹⁴ s	Light we see left the Triangulum galaxy M33
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1 petasecond	1 Ps	10¹⁵ s	Half the time mammal species have existed	1 quadrillion seconds	1 billiard seconds
10 petaseconds	10 Ps	10¹⁶ s	Age of sediment that became coal & oil
100 petaseconds	100 Ps	10¹⁷ s	Age of the solar system
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1 exasecond	1 Es	10¹⁸ s	Over twice the age of the universe	1 quintillion seconds	1 trillion seconds
10 exaseconds	10 Es	10¹⁹ s	(Longer than anything known)
100 exaseconds	100 Es	10²⁰ s	-
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1 zettasecond	1 Zs	10²¹ s	-	1 sextillion seconds	1 trilliard seconds
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1 yottasecond	1 Ys	10²⁴ s	-	1 septillion seconds	1 quadrillion seconds
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THE METRIC PREFIXES APPLIED TO THE ITEM, WITH EXAMPLES

name	prefix	10^x	example	U.S. - Short Scale	Europe - Long Scale
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1 item	1	10⁰	Number of planets humans live on	1 item	1 item
1 dekaitem	1 D (or dk)	10¹	Hot dogs in a package	10 items	10 items
1 hectoitem	1 H	10²	Useful chemical elements	100 items	100 items
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1 kiloitem	1 K	10³	One grand (money)	1 thousand items	1 thousand items
1 myriaitem	1 Myg = 10 K	10⁴	Lakes (in the Minnesota ad)	10 thousand items	10 thousand items
100 kiloitem	100 K	10⁵	Known organic compounds
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1 megaitem	1 M	10⁶	Paper clips used in one day	1 million items	1 million items
10 megaitem	10 M	10⁷	Species in the world
100 megaitem	100 M	10⁸	Asteroids over 100 m long in solar system
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1 gigaitem	1 G	10⁹	Number of working cars in the world	1 billion items	1 milliard items
10 gigaitem	10 G	10¹⁰	World Population
100 gigaitem	100 G	10¹¹	Half the stars in the Milky Way
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1 teraitem	1 T	10¹²	Size of US federal budget (dollars)	1 trillion items	1 billion items
10 teraitem	10 T	10¹³	US Money Supply (dollars)
100 teraitem	100 T	10¹⁴	World money supply (dollars)
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1 petaitem	1 P	10¹⁵	Estimated possibilities on a billiards table	1 quadrillion items	1 billiard items
10 petaitem	10 P	10¹⁶	Wheat grains on square 64 of vizier's chessboard*
100 petaitem	100 P	10¹⁷	Ants in the world
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1 exaitem	1 E	10¹⁸	Electrons per second at 1/6 ampere	1 quintillion items	1 trillion items
10 exaitem	10 E	10¹⁹	Grains of sand in the world
100 exaitem	100 E	10²⁰	Estimated number of giant stars in universe
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1 zettaitem	1 Z	10²¹	Annual world energy consumption (joules)	1 sextillion items	1 trilliard items
10 zettaitem	10 Z	10²²	Cosmic rays ≥ 1 GeV striking earth in 3 minutes
100 zettaitem	100 Z	10²³	Estimated number of stars in the universe
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1 yottaitem	1 Y	10²⁴	Total bacteria in all human beings in world	1 septillion items	1 quadrillion items
10 yottaitem	10 Y	10²⁵	Atoms in 20 grams of hydrogen
100 yottaitem	100 Y	10²⁶	Atoms in 2 kilograms of water
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Even bigger numbers:

There are 8.68 * 10³⁶ possible finishing orders for 33 cars in the Indianapolis 500. The exact number:
8,683,317,618,811,886,495,518,194,401,280,000,000.

There are 1.33 * 10⁵⁰ atoms in the earth. The exact number is not known.

There are 1.19 * 10⁵⁷ atoms in the sun. The exact number is not known.

If it were fair, there would be 126 * 10⁸⁷ finishing orders for 64 NCAA Basketball Tourney teams. The exact number:
126,886,932,185,884,164,103,433,389,335,161,480,802,865,516,174,545,192,198,801,894,375,214,704,230,400,000,000,000,000

But because of an unfair bracket system, there are only 18.4 * 10¹⁸ NCAA Basketball possibilities. The exact number:
18,446,744,073,709,551,616

* In this story, the prince owed the vizier some money. He said he would settle for some grains of wheat. Put one grain on the first square of the board, two on the second, four on the third, etc., each square getting double the number of grains on the previous square. The prince was to give the vizier all of the grains on the board.
The total is 2⁶⁴ - 1, or 18,446,744,073,709,551,615.

The Metric System

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