Most of the world uses the metric system. The only countries not on
this system are Liberia, Burma (Myanmar), and the United States of
America. The metric system is based on 10s (tens). For example, 10 millimeters make 1
centimeter, 10 centimeters make 1 decimeter, and 10 decimeters make a meter.
Units smaller than a meter have Latin prefixes:
deci - means 10th (tenth); 10 decimeters make a meter.
centi- means 100th (hundredth); 100 centimeters make a meter.
milli- means 1,000th (thousandth); 1,000 millimeters make a meter.
In the field of atmospheric science, even smaller measures must be used for lengths such as the diameter of a raindrop or aerosol particle, and capacities such as the volume of a pollutant:
micro - means 1,000,000th (or one millionth); a million microns, or micrometers, make a meter
nano - means 1,000,000,000th (or one billionth); a billion nanometers make a meter
Length
Unit
Value
micrometer (um)
0.000001 meters
nanometer (nm)
0.000000001 meters
Capacity
Unit
Value
microliter
0.000001 liters
nanoliter
0.000000001 liters
For an explanation of data volumes, please visit our Data Volume Page
