Below is a list of mathematical prefixes that every engineer should know to avoid making mistakes in their exams, in the office, or on site.

From the Nano to the Terra, we go through each prefix stating it’s symbol, name, and number in long and short forms.

Know the basics to level up your foundational understating of size.

Symbol	Name	Number (long)	Number (short)
N	Nano	0.000000001	1 x 10-9
µ	Micro	0.0000001	1 x 10-6
m	Milli	0.001	1 x 10-3
c	Centi	0.01	1 x 10-2
k	Kilo	1000	1 x 103
M	Mega	1000000	1 x 106
G	Giga	1000000000	1 x 109
T	Terra	1000000000000	1 x 1012

There are numerous types of engineering that typically specialise in a range of metric sizes.

Construction utilises dimensions ranging from millimetres to metres.

Architects use the same units but typically focus on the millimetre.

Artificial Intelligence uses units ranging from micro to nano metres.

And particle physics tend to be far smaller than nano metres!

Thanks for reading. Make you you save the article for future reference 🙂

What prefixes are prevalent in your industry? Comment below!