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From: rh@craycos.com (Robert Herndon)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Translating 64-bit addresses
Message-ID: <1991Mar11.213619.6949@craycos.com>
Date: 11 Mar 91 21:36:19 GMT
Organization: Cray Computer Corporation
Lines: 37


Those 10^(n*3) powers used so often in engineering and the
sciences are:

    English prefix	multiplier	symbolic prefix
	exa-		10^18			X?
	peta-		10^15			P
	tera-		10^12			T
	giga-		10^9			G
	mega-		10^6			M
	kilo-		10^3			K
	milli-		10^-3			m
	micro-		10^-6			u (greek mu)
	nano-		10^-9			n
	pico-		10^-12			p
	femto-		10^-15			f?
	atto-		10^-18			a?

  The symbolic prefixes are used before units, e.g., Tbyte, GH(ert)z,
Kbar, nH(enry), pF(arad), etc.  The symbolic prefixes can also be
ambiguous (T == Tesla, so a TT == a teratesla?; G == unit of acceleration,
so GG = Billion (Milliard for the Europeans) Gravities?), so some
care is required...

  I may have the last two reversed, as these are more often used in
bio (femtomolar solutions, etc.) and physics, but I think I've got them
right.  Other persons have also corrected my exa- to eka-, but I stand
by my usage (eka- means "like", as in Mendeleev's eka-elements).  Perhaps
some of the device physics people can clarify common usage of the low-end
units.

					Robert
-- 
Robert Herndon		    --	not speaking officially for Cray Computer.
Cray Computer Corporation			719/540-4240
1110 Bayfield Dr.				rh@craycos.com
Colorado Springs, CO   80906		   "Ignore these three words."