Powers Of 10
In mathematics, a power of ten is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times. By definition, the number one is a power (the zeroth power) of ten. The first few powers of ten are:
- 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 1000000, 1000000000 ... (sequence A011557 in OEIS)
| Name | Power | Number | SI symbol | SI prefix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | 0 | 1 | - | uni |
| Ten | 1 | 10 | da | deca |
| Hundred | 2 | 100 | h | hecto |
| Thousand | 3 | 1,000 | k | kilo |
| Million | 6 | 1,000,000 | M | mega |
| Billion (Milliard) | 9 | 1,000,000,000 | G | giga |
| Trillion (Billion) | 12 | 1,000,000,000,000 | T | tera |
| Quadrillion | 15 | 1,000,000,000,000,000 | P | peta |
| Quintillion | 18 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 | E | exa |
| Sextillion | 21 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | Z | zetta |
| Septillion | 24 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | Y | yotta |
In decimal notation the nth power of ten is written as '1' followed by n zeroes. It can also be written as 10n or as 1En in E notation. See order of magnitude and orders of magnitude (numbers) for named powers of ten.
The sequence of powers of ten can also be extended to negative powers:
| Name | Power | Number | SI symbol | SI prefix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenth | −1 | 0.1 | d | deci |
| Hundredth | −2 | 0.01 | c | centi |
| Thousandth | −3 | 0.001 | m | milli |
| Millionth | −6 | 0.000 001 | μ | micro |
| Billionth | −9 | 0.000 000 001 | n | nano |
| Trillionth | −12 | 0.000 000 000 001 | p | pico |
| Quadrillionth | −15 | 0.000 000 000 000 001 | f | femto |
| Quintillionth | −18 | 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 | a | atto |
| Sextillionth | −21 | 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 | z | zepto |
| Septillionth | −24 | 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 | y | yocto |
Read more about Powers Of 10: Googol, Scientific Notation
Famous quotes containing the words powers of and/or powers:
“Magic and all that is ascribed to it is a deep presentiment of the powers of science.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The poet is the person in whom these powers are in balance, the man without impediment, who sees and handles that which others dream of, traverses the whole scale of experience, and is representative of man, in virtue of being the largest power to receive and to impart.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)