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SYMBOLS
Identify Prefix and
Base
or Derived Unit of Measure TOGETHER
BASE
and
Derived UNIT
SYMBOL
meter m
liter L
kilogram kg
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PREFIX
SYMBOL
for
EVERYDAY USE
m
milli is 1 one thousandth (0.001)
c
centi is 1 one hundredth (0.01)
k
kilo
is 1000 times
as much
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WRITING IS EASY
Simply
place the prefix in front of the
base
or derived unit
like mm
(millimeter), cm (centimeter),
km
(kilometer) or mg (milligram) kg (kilogram)
or mL
(milliliter) for example.
The size or quantity is indicated by the
first letter
or prefix symbol
and the second letter
or symbol identifies the
base or derived unit.
Note: Where symbols
are used convention has it that they are
always lower case letters except where the Base Unit is named after a person like
Celsius (°C), Pascal (P) or
Newton (N). Then the symbol is noted by a CAPITAL LETTER.
What's
with a capital letter "L" for liter when the capital letter is
supposed to be for a persons name?
As
technology came along it became apparent that typewriters were not
equipped with the script
so attempts were made
to use the
lower case "l" (el).
Then it became further confusing to write "1l"
(lower case "el") as the "1" and
"l" (el) looked too similar
as did the capital "I" (eye).
So the capital "L"
was chosen as the symbol
for
the derived base unit "liter".
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