Topic Summaries

Units and prefixes

GCSE > Biology > Edexcel > GCSE Biology Topic Summaries > Science skills: Measuring results > Units and prefixes
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Pathogens and non-specific immunity

Resource cycles and environmental change

Science skills: Measuring results

Unit Symbol Used to measure
Metre m Distance
Second s Time
Degrees Celsius ℃ Temperature
Litre L Volume
Grams g Mass
Joules J Energy
Coulombs C Charge
  • Some units are derived as combinations of other units. For example:
    • Speed in metres per second, m/s.
    • Area in metres squared, m2.
    • Rate in grams per second, g/s.
    • Density in kilograms per meter cubed, kg/m3.
  • Prefixes are added to units to indicate that they should be multiplied by a power of 10 to convert to the standard unit (e.g. 1 cm = 1 × 10–2 m). This makes them useful for very large or small values.
  • When substituting values into equations, their units must be converted to have the correct prefix first.
Unit Symbol Multiplier
tera- T 10¹²
giga- G 10⁹
mega- M 10⁶
kilo- k 10³
centi- c 10⁻²
milli- m 10⁻³
micro- µ 10⁻⁶
nano- n 10⁻⁹

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