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NUMBERS GLOSSARY

Below is a collection of commonly used mathematical conventions and terms. In addition to literacy, scientists must have numeracy, as well as strong graphicacy and symbolic literacy. The resource(s) on this page should help its visitor find a bit more fluency when working in/with the world of numbers.

Numeric (Metric) Prefixes

Numbers greater than 1...

1 : mono- (or hen-)
2: di- (or do-)
3: tri-
4: tetra-
5: penta-
6: hexa-
7: hepta-
8: octa-
9: nona-
10: deca-
100: hecto-
1 000: kilo-
1 000 000: mega-
1 000 000 000: giga-
1 000 000 000 000: tera-
1 000 000 000 000 000: peta-

Numbers less than 1...

0.1: deci-
0.01: centi-
0.001: milli-
0.000 001: micro-
0.000 000 001: nano-
0.000 000 000 001: pico-
0.000 000 000 000 001: femto-

All those Zeros...

Ten: 10 (1 zero)
Hundred: 100 (2 zeros)
Thousand: 1000 (3 zeros)
Ten thousand: 10,000 (4 zeros)
Hundred thousand: 100,000 (5 zeros)
Million: 1,000,000 (6 zeros)
Billion: 1,000,000,000 (9 zeros)
Trillion: 1,000,000,000,000 (12 zeros)
Quadrillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000 (15 zeros)
Quintillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (18 zeros)
Sextillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (21 zeros)
Septillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (24 zeros)
Octillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (27 zeros)
Nonillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (30 zeros)
Decillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (33 zeros)

Notable numbers...

1.21 Gigawatts – The amount of electricity Doc Brown needed to power his Flying DeLorean’s flux capacitor.

299,792,458 m/s – The speed of light (in a vacuum).

343 m/s – The speed of sound (in dry air at 20 °C).

007 – The number of British Secret Service agent, James Bond.

Less than 12 parsecs – The amount of time Han Solo needed to make the Kessel Run with the Millennium Falcon.

42 – The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.

If, instead of Numbers, it’s a good old fashioned Word glossary you’re looking for–or maybe even a Root Words or Symbols glossary–then look no further than the buttons below.

Last updated: September 2022