Chapter 1 - Engineering Notation and Metric Prefixes
Engineering notation is similar to scientific notation except that it only uses powers of 10 that are multiples of 3. This is due to the use of Metric Prefixes for the most commonly used powers of 10 such as milli, micro, mega and so forth. Engineering Notation is typically used for expressing values of Voltage, Current, Resistance, Capacitance, Inductance and so on.
Metric Prefixes
| METRIC PREFIX | SYMBOL | VALUE | POWER OF TEN |
|---|---|---|---|
| femto | f | one-quadrillionth | 1 x 10-15 |
| pico | p | one-trillionth | 1 x 10-12 |
| nano | n | one-billionth | 1 x 10-9 |
| micro | µ | one-millionth | 1 x 10-6 |
| milli | m | one-thousandth | 1 x 10-3 |
| kilo | k | one thousand | 1 x 103 |
| mega | M | one million | 1 x 106 |
| giga | G | one billion | 1 x 109 |
| tera | T | one trillion | 1 x 1012 |
