Student resources
Grades 4-8
Metric Prefixes Chart for Students
Metric prefixes tell how many times larger or smaller a unit is compared with the base unit.
Key ideas
- Milli means one thousandth of the base unit.
- Centi means one hundredth of the base unit.
- Kilo means one thousand base units.
- Metric conversions often move by powers of 10.
Common Metric Prefixes
| Prefix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| milli | 1/1,000 of base | 1,000 millimeters = 1 meter |
| centi | 1/100 of base | 100 centimeters = 1 meter |
| deci | 1/10 of base | 10 decimeters = 1 meter |
| base unit | 1 | meter, gram, liter |
| deka | 10 base units | 1 dekameter = 10 meters |
| hecto | 100 base units | 1 hectometer = 100 meters |
| kilo | 1,000 base units | 1 kilometer = 1,000 meters |
Practice questions
What does kilo mean?
Calculation: Kilo means 1,000 base units
Answer: 1,000
What does centi mean?
Calculation: Centi means 1/100 of the base unit
Answer: one hundredth
Convert 5 km to m.
Calculation: 5 x 1,000 = 5,000
Answer: 5,000 m
Convert 40 cm to m.
Calculation: 40 / 100 = 0.4
Answer: 0.4 m