'Short scale' number names are used in mainland Europe and other non-English-speaking nations. Generally 'long scale' names of numbers are used in UK/US/Arabic-English-speaking nations. A billion does not mean the same number to everyone. Short scale and long scale big number names The metric prefixes offer a simple and quick way to introduce the main principles of decimals and big number calculations, as well as providing a meaningful reference by which to explore or teach most other aspects of mathematics. To progress your career into management or other higher responsibility, or to start up and run your own business, a good understanding of mathematics is crucial - especially being capable with big numbers, and being sure where to put the decimal point in monetary calculations, where failing to do so can cause disastrous errors. We all need to understand numbers and maths to a level necessary for even the most basic tasks, such as balancing personal finances, completing expenses claims or tax returns, and assessing the best deals when we do our grocery shopping. Numbers and mathematics are fascinating and useful in work and life. You and your students/trainees will no doubt think of plenty more examples. The words decimate and centurion from Roman times Trillion (tn) as an increasingly used measure of monetary budget or debt or output of government and economy (fast-eclipsing the scale of billions and millions, which were once beyond imagination but are now are dwarfed by the extent of modern national and international finances) Micro-organisms, microwaves, micron, micrometer (although note that 'micro' also has the general meaning of small, from the Greek 'mikros') ![]() Gigabytes, terabytes and petabytes in computing Here are some other common random words which include metric prefix words, which are interesting discussion points if you seek to explore numbers yourself, or especially if you are attempting to make the subject appealing and accessible to young people or trainees of others sorts. about a billion passed while you are reading this sentence. How quick is a nanosecond? A blink of an eye?Ī bit quicker. a microgram is actually just one-millionth of a gram. How heavy is a microgram? Could you feel a microgram in the palm of your hand? The metric prefixes help us to appreciate measurements and sizes much more accurately: for example: (10 to the power of three is ten multiplied by itself three times = 1,000. In the metric prefixes table below, 'Factor' equates to the ten-times factor the positive ones represent the number of zeros after the figure the negatives show the number of decimal places after the decimal point. Knowing the actual values of the metric prefixes enables us to have a better understanding of the terms which use them, and the real size of things that are described by them. The metric prefixes have entered many parts of our language and terminology, especially measurements and performance data of very big and very small things (gigabyte, microgram, nanosecond, etc). ![]() This is why there are 2 0s before the 1.Metric prefixes: definitions, values and symbols If you start with 1 and move the decimal point 2 places to the left, you get 0.02. This power of 10 has an exponent of negative 2. This is why there are 2 0s after the 1.Ī power of 10 can also have a negative exponent. If you start with 1 and move the decimal point 2 places to the right, you get 100. This power of 10 has an exponent of positive 2. It can be positive or negative.Īll the examples of powers of 10 we have seen so far have positive exponents. The exponent tells you how many times the base is multiplying by itself. ![]() The base is the number that is multiplying itself. Read more about scientific notation The Parts of a Power of 10Ī power of 10 has the same parts as any power. This way of writing numbers is called scientific notation. The 0s come after a 3, so we need to multiply the power of 10 by 3.
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