Scale of numbers, deci, deca, centi, hecto etc..
Numbers
In the Metric system unwieldy small and large numbers can be represented using words. ie rather than saying 1000 metres or 1000 grammes you can say 1kilometre (kilo can be abbreviated to k and metre to m giving 1km) or 1kilogram (gram can be abbreviated to g giving 1kg).
Scales of numbers
Large Numbers
| Number.................... | Name | Symbol | Description (Short Scale) | Description (Long Scale) |
| 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | yotta | Y | Septillion | Quadrillion |
| 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | zetta | Z | Sextillion | Thousand Trillion/Trilliard |
| 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 | exa | E | Quintillion | Trillion |
| 1,000,000,000,000,000 | peta | P | Quadrillion | Thousand Billion/Billiard |
| 1,000,000,000,000 | tera | T | Trillion | Billion |
| 1,000,000,000 | giga | G | Billion | Thousand Million/Milliard |
| 1,000,000 | mega | M | Million | Million |
| 1,000 | kilo | k | Thousand | Thousand |
| 100 | hecto | h | Hundred | Hundred |
| 10 | deca | da | Ten | Ten> |
Small Numbers
| Number.................... | Name | Symbol | Description (Short Scale) | Description (Long Scale) |
| 0.1 | deci | d | Tenth | Tenth |
| 0.01 | centi | c | Hundredth | Hundredth |
| 0.001 | milli | m | Thousandth | Thousandth |
| 0.000 001 | micro | u | Millionth | Millionth |
| 0.000 000 001 | nano | n | Billionth | Thousand Millionth |
| 0.000 000 000 001 | pico | p | Trillionth | Billionth |
| 0.000 000 000 000 001 | femto | f | Quadrillionth | Thousand Billionth |
| 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 | atto | a | Quitillionth | Trillionth |
| 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 | zepto | z | Sextillionth | Thousand Trillionth |
| 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 | yocto | y | Septillionth | Quadrillionth |
Long and short scales idea suggested by Rob Riley (2012)