Engineering Notation

gineering notation is a version of scientific notation in which the powers of ten must be multiples of three (i.e., they are powers of a thousand, but written as, for example, 106 instead of 10002). As an alternative to writing powers of 10, SI prefixes can be used, which also usually provide steps of a factor of a thousand.

Compared to normalized scientific notation, one disadvantage of using SI prefixes and engineering notation is that significant figures are not always readily apparent. For example, 500 µm and 500 × 10−6 m cannot express the uncertainty distinctions between 5 × 10−4, 5.0 × 10−4, and 5.00 × 10−4 m. This can be solved by changing the range of the coefficient in front of the power from the common 1–1000 to 0.001–1.0. In some cases this may be suitable; in others it may be impractical. In the previous example, 0.5, 0.50, or 0.500 mm would have been used to show uncertainty and significant figures. It is also common to state the precision explicitly, such as "47 kΩ ±5%"

Another example: when the speed of light (exactly 299 792 458 m/s by the definition of the meter and second) is expressed as 3.00 × 108 m/s or 3.00 × 105 km/s then it is clear that it is between 299 500 and 300 500 km/s, but when using 300 × 106 m/s, or 300 × 103 km/s, 300 000 km/s, or the unusual but short 300 Mm/s, this is not clear. A possibility is using 0.300 Gm/s, convenient to write, but somewhat impractical in understanding (writing something large as a fraction of something even larger; in a context of larger numbers expressed in the same unit this could be convenient, but that is not applicable here).

Metric prefixes
Prefix Symbol 1000m 10n Decimal Short scale Long scale Since
yotta Y 10008 1024 1000000000000000000000000 septillion quadrillion 1991
zetta Z 10007 1021 1000000000000000000000 sextillion trilliard 1991
exa E 10006 1018 1000000000000000000 quintillion trillion 1975
peta P 10005 1015 1000000000000000 quadrillion billiard 1975
tera T 10004 1012 1000000000000 trillion billion 1960
giga G 10003 109 1000000000 billion milliard 1960
mega M 10002 106 1000000 million 1960
kilo k 10001 103 1000 thousand 1795
hecto h 10002/3 102 100 hundred 1795
deca da 10001/3 101 10 ten 1795
10000 100 1 one –
deci d 1000−1/3 10−1 0.1 tenth 1795
centi c 1000−2/3 10−2 0.01 hundredth 1795
milli m 1000−1 10−3 0.001 thousandth 1795
micro μ 1000−2 10−6 0.000001 millionth 1960
nano n 1000−3 10−9 0.000000001 billionth milliardth 1960
pico p 1000−4 10−12 0.000000000001 trillionth billionth 1960
femto f 1000−5 10−15 0.000000000000001 quadrillionth billiardth 1964
atto a 1000−6 10−18 0.000000000000000001 quintillionth trillionth 1964
zepto z 1000−7 10−21 0.000000000000000000001 sextillionth trilliardth 1991
yocto y 1000−8 10−24 0.000000000000000000000001 septillionth quadrillionth 1991

Famous quotes containing the word engineering:

    “Mining today is an affair of mathematics, of finance, of the latest in engineering skill. Cautious men behind polished desks in San Francisco figure out in advance the amount of metal to a cubic yard, the number of yards washed a day, the cost of each operation. They have no need of grubstakes.”
    —Merle Colby, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)