High School

What are 6 important metric prefixes out of the 10?

a) Kilo, Hecto, Mega, Giga, Tera, Pico
b) Milli, Deci, Centi, Kilo, Mega, Giga
c) Kilo, Hecto, Deca, Centi, Milli, Micro
d) Mega, Giga, Tera, Pico, Nano, Deci

Answer :

Final answer:

Answer b) is correct as it contains commonly used metric prefixes like Milli, Deci, Centi, Kilo, Mega, and Giga, which represent a thousandth to a billion respectively.

Explanation:

The 6 important metric prefixes can be considered based on their frequency of use and range across different scales of measurement. Among the given options, answer b) Milli, Deci, Centi, Kilo, Mega, Giga contains prefixes that are commonly used to express measures in the metric system for both small and large quantities.

  • Milli- represents a thousandth (10⁻³),
  • Deci- represents a tenth (10⁻¹),
  • Centi- represents a hundredth (10⁻²),
  • Kilo- represents a thousand (10³),
  • Mega- represents a million (10⁶),
  • Giga- represents a billion (10⁹).

These metric prefixes provide versatility for measuring a wide range of quantities in physics, such as meter for distance, kilogram for mass, and second for time. For instance, kilometers can be used to measure large distances, while millimeters can be used for smaller lengths.