Deci- (symbol d) is a decimal unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of one tenth. Proposed in 1793, and adopted in 1795, the prefix comes from the Latin decimus, meaning "tenth". Since 1960, the prefix is part of the International System of Units (SI).
A frequent use of the prefix is in the unit deciliter (dl), common in food recipes; many European homes have a deciliter measure for flour, water, etc. A common measure in engineering is the unit decibel for measuring ratios of power and root-power quantities, such as sound level and electrical amplification.
Example
- The diameter of a compact disc is about 12 centimetres or 1.2 decimetres.
| Prefix | Base 10 | Decimal | Adoption | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Symbol | |||
| quetta | Q | 10 | 1000000000000000000000000000000 | 2022 |
| ronna | R | 10 | 1000000000000000000000000000 | |
| yotta | Y | 10 | 1000000000000000000000000 | 1991 |
| zetta | Z | 10 | 1000000000000000000000 | |
| exa | E | 10 | 1000000000000000000 | 1975 |
| peta | P | 10 | 1000000000000000 | |
| tera | T | 10 | 1000000000000 | 1960 |
| giga | G | 10 | 1000000000 | |
| mega | M | 10 | 1000000 | 1873 |
| kilo | k | 10 | 1000 | 1795 |
| hecto | h | 10 | 100 | |
| deca | da | 10 | 10 | |
| — | — | 10 | 1 | — |
| deci | d | 10 | 0.1 | 1795 |
| centi | c | 10 | 0.01 | |
| milli | m | 10 | 0.001 | |
| micro | μ | 10 | 0.000001 | 1873 |
| nano | n | 10 | 0.000000001 | 1960 |
| pico | p | 10 | 0.000000000001 | |
| femto | f | 10 | 0.000000000000001 | 1964 |
| atto | a | 10 | 0.000000000000000001 | |
| zepto | z | 10 | 0.000000000000000000001 | 1991 |
| yocto | y | 10 | 0.000000000000000000000001 | |
| ronto | r | 10 | 0.000000000000000000000000001 | 2022 |
| quecto | q | 10 | 0.000000000000000000000000000001 | |
| ||||
References
- Commission temporaire de Poids & Mesures rêpublicaines, En exécution des Décrets de la Convention Nationale (1793). Instruction abrégée sur les mesures déduites de la grandeur de la Terre; uniformes pour toute la Rêpublique, et sur les Calculs relatifs à leur division décimale (in French) (Edition originale ed.). Paris, France: De l´imprimerie nationale exécutive du Louvre. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
- The International System of Units (Si): The Metric System. DIANE Publishing. 1992. p. 30. ISBN 9780941375740.
- "Resolution 12 of the 11th CGPM". BIPM. 1960. Archived from the original on 2020-04-08. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
- "Universcale: From the nanoworld to the universe — The worlds we measure using our infinite yardstick". Nikon. 2013. Archived from the original on 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
- ^ "On the extension of the range of SI prefixes". 18 November 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- "Metric (SI) Prefixes". NIST.