SI Base Units & SI Prefixes
Physical Quantity
Unit Name
Unit Abbreviation
Length
meter
m
Mass
kilogram
kg
Time
second
s
Temperature
kelvin
K
Electric current
ampere
A
Amount of substance
mole
mol
Luminous intensity
candela
cd
Teaching the Metric System
Links to some good pages
THE Official Metric Website
(For the really curious and those
that must be accurate!)
SI Base Units
There are 7 base SI units.  They are
listed in the table to the left.  
The International System of Units is
abbreviated SI after the adopted
French name
Système International d'Unités.
Factor
Name
Symbol
 
Factor
Name
Symbol
10 ^1
deca
da
  
10 ^ -1
deci
d
10 ^2
hecto
h
  
10 ^ -2
centi
c
10 ^3
kilo
k
  
10 ^ -3
milli
m
10 ^6
mega
M
  
10 ^ -6
micro
µ
10 ^9
giga
G
  
10 ^ -9
nano
n
10 ^12
tera
T
  
10 ^ -12
pico
p
10 ^15
peta
P
  
10 ^ -15
femto
f
10 ^18
exa
E
  
10 ^ -18
atto
a
10 ^21
zetta
Z
  
10 ^ -21
zepto
z
10 ^24
yotta
Y
  
10 ^ -24
yocto
y
SI Prefixes
10 ^3 = 10 (to the 3rd power) = 1000

10 ^ -3 = 1/10 ^3 = 1/1000 = 0.001
Frames of Reference
A picture guide that may
help make the leap to
metric understanding.
Correct Usage
There is a proper
way to use the
metric system.  
Still Have Questions?
US Metric Association Website on
Frequently Asked Questions
Detailed List
US Metric Assoc. extended list of
symbols, derived units, and
relationships.
A Middle School Level Website
Web-Science.net