SI Prefixes

Need to convert between prefixes like from picosecond to microsecond? Or kilometer to milimeter? Do you need to memorize the SI prefixes? Find it difficult to remember the letters/symbols, sequence and exponent value? If you answered yes, then you are not alone. My students join you in this struggle. That’s why I developed a mnemonic to help them memorize all 12 prefixes they need for the course. So, here we go, introducing the 12 prefixes:

– Tera – Giga – Mega – kilo – hecto – deca – deci – centi – mili – micro – nano – pico –

Here’s the thing, each of these prefixes have their own abbreviation/symbol. The first three (Tera, Giga, Mega) are abbreviated with 1 upper case letter (T, G and M, respectively). Then, the rest are 1 lower case letter (k, h, d, c, m, n, p), except deca (da) and micro (μ). So, here goes, the mnemonic I created for the 12 prefixes in sequence:

• Tera – The
• Giga – Great
• Mega – Man
• kilo – king
• hecto – henry’s
• deca – daughter
• BASE – Beth
• deci – drinks
• centi – cold
• mili – milk
• micro – μntil
• nano – nine
• pico – pm

As for the exponent value, just start with 0 at base. Then you go 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12. Do that on both sides, except you place negative sign (-) on the right hand side (refer to the image, it’ll make more sense).

Hope this helped you somehow. Do share it with anyone you think will benefit from this mnemonic.