Powers of Ten
The metric prefixes you meet around clocks and computing. Each step is a factor of 1000.
| Prefix | Symbol | Power | Factor |
|---|
| pico | p | 10−12 | 0.000 000 000 001 |
| nano | n | 10−9 | 0.000 000 001 |
| micro | µ | 10−6 | 0.000 001 |
| milli | m | 10−3 | 0.001 |
| (base unit) | – | 100 | 1 |
| kilo | k | 103 | 1 000 |
| mega | M | 106 | 1 000 000 |
| giga | G | 109 | 1 000 000 000 |
| tera | T | 1012 | 1 000 000 000 000 |
| peta | P | 1015 | 1 000 000 000 000 000 |
Frequency Converter
Type a value, pick its unit, and read it back in the others.
A few anchor values across the same four units, with each clock's period in the last column.
Period → Frequency
Go the other way: enter a clock period and read the frequency it corresponds to.
Common Clock Speeds
Period is just 1 ÷ frequency. A part clocked at 1 MHz advances once every microsecond, so faster clocks mean shorter periods. A few machines you might know.
| Machine / part | Clock | Period |
|---|