Micro

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For other uses, see Micro (disambiguation).

Micro- is a prefix in the SI and other systems of units denoting a factor of 10⁻⁶ (one millionth). The symbol for it is the micro sign (µ), the Greek letter mu (μ) (there are two different symbols in Unicode, which appear slightly different in some fonts). In circumstances where only the Latin alphabet is available, the SI standard allows representation of the prefix using the letter u as in um for µm, or uV for µV. In some contexts, such as pharmacy, micrograms are often written mcg.

Confirmed in 1960, the prefix comes from the Greek μικρός (transliterated: mikros), meaning small.

More generally, the prefix means "very small".

SI prefixes

1000n	10n	Prefix	Symbol	Short scale	Long scale	Decimal equivalent in SI writing style
10008	1024	yotta	Y	Septillion	Quadrillion	1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
10007	1021	zetta	Z	Sextillion	Trilliard (thousand trillion)	1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
10006	1018	exa	E	Quintillion	Trillion	1 000 000 000 000 000 000
10005	1015	peta	P	Quadrillion	Billiard (thousand billion)	1 000 000 000 000 000
10004	1012	tera	T	Trillion	Billion	1 000 000 000 000
10003	109	giga	G	Billion	Milliard (thousand million)	1 000 000 000
10002	106	mega	M	Million		1 000 000
10001	103	kilo	k	Thousand		1 000
10002/3	102	hecto	h	Hundred		100
10001/3	101	deca, deka	da	Ten		10
10000	100	(none)	(none)	One		1
1000−1/3	10−1	deci	d	Tenth		0.1
1000−2/3	10−2	centi	c	Hundredth		0.01
1000−1	10−3	milli	m	Thousandth		0.001
1000−2	10−6	micro	µ (u)	Millionth		0.000 001
1000−3	10−9	nano	n	Billionth	Milliardth	0.000 000 001
1000−4	10−12	pico	p	Trillionth	Billionth	0.000 000 000 001
1000−5	10−15	femto	f	Quadrillionth	Billiardth	0.000 000 000 000 001
1000−6	10−18	atto	a	Quintillionth	Trillionth	0.000 000 000 000 000 001
1000−7	10−21	zepto	z	Sextillionth	Trilliardth	0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001
1000−8	10−24	yocto	y	Septillionth	Quadrillionth	0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001

[edit] See also

• SI