Orders of Magnitude (mass) - Units of Mass

Units of Mass

SI multiples for gram (g)
Submultiples Multiples
Value Symbol Name Value Symbol Name
10−1 g dg decigram 101 g dag decagram
10−2 g cg centigram 102 g hg hectogram
10−3 g mg milligram 103 g kg kilogram
10−6 g µg microgram (mcg) 106 g Mg megagram (tonne)
10−9 g ng nanogram 109 g Gg gigagram
10−12 g pg picogram 1012 g Tg teragram
10−15 g fg femtogram 1015 g Pg petagram
10−18 g ag attogram 1018 g Eg exagram
10−21 g zg zeptogram 1021 g Zg zettagram
10−24 g yg yoctogram 1024 g Yg yottagram
Common prefixes are in bold face.

The table below is based on the kilogram (kg), the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI). The kilogram is the only standard unit to include an SI prefix (kilo-) as part of its name. The gram (10−3 kg) is an SI derived unit of mass. However, the names of all SI mass units are based on gram, rather than on kilogram; thus 103 kg is a megagram (106 g), not a "kilokilogram".

The tonne (t) is a SI-compatible unit of mass equal to a megagram, or 103 kg. The unit is in common use for masses above about 103 kg and is often used with SI prefixes.

Read more about this topic:  Orders Of Magnitude (mass)

Famous quotes containing the words units and/or mass:

    “Even in harmonious families there is this double life: the group life, which is the one we can observe in our neighbour’s household, and, underneath, another—secret and passionate and intense—which is the real life that stamps the faces and gives character to the voices of our friends. Always in his mind each member of these social units is escaping, running away, trying to break the net which circumstances and his own affections have woven about him.”
    —Willa Cather (1873–1947)

    “... in the happy laughter of a theatre audience one can get the most immediate and numerically impressive guarantee that there is nothing in one’s mind which is not familiar to the mass of persons living at the time.”
    —Rebecca West (1892–1983)