Metric Unit Prefix Converter
Convert between metric prefixes (mega, kilo, milli, micro, nano)
Calculator
1000 mmeter → µmeter
1000 mmeter = 1000 × 10^-3 meter = 1.0000e+6 µmeter
Conversion Factor
× 1.00e+3
Base Unit Value
1.0000e+0 meter
SI Prefixes Reference
How to Use
Convert between metric unit prefixes
Select base unit
Choose the base unit (meter, gram, second, etc.)
Enter value and prefix
Input the value and select from/to prefixes
View conversion
See the converted value with conversion factor
Prefix Conversion
New value = Old value x (Old prefix factor / New prefix factor)
Multiply by the ratio of prefix factors to convert between units.
Frequently Asked Questions
SI prefixes are standardized multipliers for metric units. They range from yocto (10^-24) to yotta (10^24). Common ones: kilo (10^3), mega (10^6), giga (10^9), milli (10^-3), micro (10^-6), nano (10^-9). They make very large or small numbers manageable.
Find the power difference between prefixes and move the decimal. To convert 5 km to meters: kilo is 10^3, so 5 km = 5 x 10^3 m = 5000 m. To convert 3000 micrometers to mm: micro is 10^-6, milli is 10^-3, difference is 10^3, so 3000 micrometers = 3 mm.
Most common: kilo (k, 10^3) for km, kg; mega (M, 10^6) for MB, MHz; giga (G, 10^9) for GB, GHz; milli (m, 10^-3) for mm, mL; micro (Greek mu, 10^-6) for micrometer, microgram; nano (n, 10^-9) for nm, ns. Tera (T) and pico (p) are also common.
Computing traditionally used powers of 2 (1 KB = 1024 bytes) but SI uses powers of 10 (1 kB = 1000 bytes). To avoid confusion, binary prefixes were created: kibi (Ki, 2^10=1024), mebi (Mi, 2^20), gibi (Gi, 2^30). So 1 GiB = 1024 MiB is not equal to 1 GB = 1000 MB.