Tera-

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Tera- (symbol: T) is a prefix in the SI system of units denoting 1012, or 1,000,000,000,000 (1 million million).

Confirmed in 1960, it comes from the Greek τέρας, meaning monster.[1] It also bears a resemblance to the Greek prefix τετρα- meaning four; the coincidence of it signifying the fourth power of 1000 served as a model for the higher-order prefixes peta-, exa-, zetta- and yotta-, all of which are deliberately distorted forms of the Latin or Greek roots for the corresponding powers (fifth to eighth respectively) of 1000.

In computer science tera- can sometimes mean 1,099,511,627,776 (240) instead of 1,000,000,000,000, especially in the term terabyte. To avoid this ambiguity, the binary prefix tebi- has been introduced to signify 240, but this, in common with the other binary prefixes, is not currently in general use.

SI prefixes
1000n 10n Prefix Symbol Since[1] Short scale Long scale Decimal equivalent in SI writing style
10008 1024 yotta- Y 1991 Septillion Quadrillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
10007 1021 zetta- Z 1991 Sextillion Trilliard (thousand trillion) 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
10006 1018 exa- E 1975 Quintillion Trillion 1 000 000 000 000 000 000
10005 1015 peta- P 1975 Quadrillion Billiard (thousand billion) 1 000 000 000 000 000
10004 1012 tera- T 1960 Trillion Billion 1 000 000 000 000
10003 109 giga- G 1960 Billion Milliard (thousand million) 1 000 000 000
10002 106 mega- M 1960 Million 1 000 000
10001 103 kilo- k 1795 Thousand 1 000
10002/3 102 hecto- h 1795 Hundred 100
10001/3 101 deca- da 1795 Ten 10
10000 100 (none) (none) NA One 1
1000−1/3 10−1 deci- d 1795 Tenth 0.1
1000−2/3 10−2 centi- c 1795 Hundredth 0.01
1000−1 10−3 milli- m 1795 Thousandth 0.001
1000−2 10−6 micro- µ 1960[2] Millionth 0.000 001
1000−3 10−9 nano- n 1960 Billionth Milliardth 0.000 000 001
1000−4 10−12 pico- p 1960 Trillionth Billionth 0.000 000 000 001
1000−5 10−15 femto- f 1964 Quadrillionth Billiardth 0.000 000 000 000 001
1000−6 10−18 atto- a 1964 Quintillionth Trillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 001
1000−7 10−21 zepto- z 1991 Sextillionth Trilliardth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001
1000−8 10−24 yocto- y 1991 Septillionth Quadrillionth 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
Notes:
1. The 1795 dates identify prefixes in use since the metric system was introduced. The other dates are not necessarily dates of first use, but rather the date of recognition by a resolution of the CGPM, which first met in 1889.
2. The micron was earlier recognized by the CGPM in 1948; that decision was abrogated in 1967-68.

[edit] References

  1. ^ YourDictionary.com, tera-, Retrieved on 2007-06-05.

[edit] See also

ca:Tera cs:Tera et:Tera- fa:ترا fr:Téra ko:테라 it:Tera (prefisso) he:טרה (תחילית) mk:Тера nl:Tera ja:テラ no:Tera nds:Tera pl:Tera pt:Tera sl:Tera sr:Тера (префикс) fi:Tera sv:Tera vi:Têra zh:兆

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