Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/si-prefixes

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Nano-

SI prefix denoting 10 to the -9th power


Summary

SI prefix denoting 10 to the -9th power

Nano (symbol n) is a unit prefix meaning one billionth. Used primarily with the metric system, this prefix denotes a factor of 10−9 or . It is frequently encountered in science and electronics for prefixing units of time and length.

The prefix derives from the Greek νᾶνος (Latin nanus), meaning "dwarf". The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) officially endorsed the usage of nano as a standard prefix in 1960.

When used as a prefix for something other than a unit of measure (as for example in words like "nanoscience"), nano refers to nanotechnology, or means "on a scale of nanometres" (nanoscale).

Nanometre(Nanometer)

X-rays have a wavelength ranging from the size of 0.01 nm to 10 nm.

Three gold atoms lined up are about one nanometer (nm) long.

Human fingernails grow at approximately one nanometer per second.

Nanosecond

One nanosecond (ns) is about the time required for light to travel 30 cm in air, or 20 cm in an optical fiber.

References

simple:Nano-

References

  1. "Examples of Nanoscale Objects".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Nano- — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report