Micro-

Short description: Metric system unit prefix, one millionth

For other uses, see Micro.

Micro-

In Unicode| U+03BC μ
Different from
Different from| U+00B5 µ (discouraged)

Micro (Greek letter μ, mu, non-italic) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of one millionth (10−6).[1] It comes from the Greek word μικρός (mikrós), meaning "small".[2]

It is the only SI prefix which uses a character not from the Latin alphabet. In Unicode, the symbol is represented by U+03BC μ or the legacy symbol U+00B5 µ . The prefix "mc" is also commonly used; for example, "mcg" denotes a microgram (whereas mg denotes a milligram).[3]

## Contents

* 1 Examples
* 2 Symbol encoding in character sets
* 3 Other abbreviating conventions
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## Examples

* Typical bacteria are 1 to 10 μm in diameter.
* Human hair typically varies in diameter from 17 to 181 μm.[4]
* Eukaryotic cells are typically 10 to 100 μm in diameter.[5]

## Symbol encoding in character sets

The official symbol for the SI prefix micro is a Greek lowercase mu (μ).[6] For reasons stemming from its design, Unicode has two different character codes for the letter, with slightly different appearance in some computer fonts, although most fonts use the same glyph. U+03BC μ GREEK SMALL LETTER MU is in the Greek range. According to The Unicode Consortium, the Greek letter character is preferred,[7] but implementations must recognize the micro sign as well, for compatibility with legacy character sets. This distinction also occurs in some legacy code pages, notably Windows-1253.

In circumstances in which only the Latin alphabet is available, ISO 2955 (since 1974,[8] withdrawn 2001[9]), DIN 66030 (since 1980[10][11]) and BS 6430 (since 1983) allow the prefix `μ` to be substituted by the letter ⟨u⟩ (Template:Unichar2) as, for example, in `um` for `μm`, or `uF` for `μF` . Similarly, capacitor values according to the RKM code defined in IEC 60062 (since 1952) can be written as `4u7` (or `4U7`) instead of `4μ7` if the Greek letter `μ` is not available.

The CJK Compatibility block contains square forms of some Japanese katakana measure and currency units. U+3343 ㍃ corresponds to マイクロ maikuro.

## Other abbreviating conventions

In some health care institutions, house rules deprecate the standard symbol for microgram, "μg", in prescribing or chart recording, because of the risk of giving an incorrect dose because of the misreading of poor handwriting.[12] The two alternatives are to abbreviate as "mcg"[12][3] or to write out "microgram" in full (see also List of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions). The alternative abbreviation may be ambiguous in rare circumstances in that mcg could also be read as a micrigram, i.e. 10−14 g; however the prefix micri is not standard, nor widely known, and is considered obsolete. This deprecation, focused on avoiding incorrect dosing in contexts where handwriting is often present, does not extend to all health-care contexts and institutions (for example, some clinical laboratories' reports adhere to it, whereas others do not[12]), and in physical sciences research, "μg" remains the sole official abbreviation.

In medical data exchange according to the Health Level 7 (HL7) standard, the μ can be replaced by u as well.[13]

## See also

* Microgram
* Microscope
* Microsecond
* Microwave
* Square micrometre
* List of commonly used taxonomic affixes

## References

1. ↑ International Bureau of Weights and Measures (2006), The International System of Units (SI) (8th ed.), ISBN 92-822-2213-6, http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf
2. ↑ "MICR," Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/MICR. Accessed 10/13/2024.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "ISMP List of Error-Prone Abbreviations, Symbols, and Dose Designations: Abbreviations for Doses/Measurement Units". Recommendations. Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). 2021-02-05. https://www.ismp.org/recommendations/error-prone-abbreviations-list. "Error-Prone Abbreviations, Symbols, and Dose Designations: μg […] Intended Meaning: Microgram […] Misinterpretation: Mistaken as mg […] Best Practice: Use mcg […]"
4. ↑ Ley, Brian (1999). "Diameter of a human hair". in Elert, Glenn. https://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/BrianLey.shtml. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
5. ↑ Biology by Campbell & Reece, tenth edition. Ch. 6 "A Tour of the Cell". p. 98.
6. ↑ Prefixes of the International System of Units, International Bureau of Weights and Measures (page visited on 9 May 2016).
7. ↑ Unicode Technical Report #25
8. ↑ ISO 2955-1974: Information processing - Representations of SI and other units for use in systems with limited character sets (1st ed.). 1974.
9. ↑ "Table 2". ISO 2955-1983: lnformation processing - Representations of SI and other units for use in systems with limited character sets (2nd ed.). 1983-05-15. http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/4289384/ISO_2955-1983E_repr_of_SI_units_with_limited_char_sets.pdf?func=doc.Fetch&nodeid=4289384. Retrieved 2016-12-14. [1]
10. ↑ (in de) DIN 66030: Darstellungen von Einheitennamen in Systemen mit beschränktem Schriftzeichenvorrat (1st ed.). 1980.
11. ↑ "Neue Normen für die Informationsverarbeitung" (in de). Computerwoche. 1981-01-09. http://www.computerwoche.de/a/neue-normen-fuer-die-informationsverarbeitung,1184901. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Burtis, Carl A.; Ashwood, Edward R.; Bruns, David E. (2012), Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics (5th ed.), Elsevier Health Sciences, ISBN 978-1455759422, https://books.google.com/books?id=BBLRUI4aHhkC&pg=PT2241.
13. ↑ "Commonly Used UCUM Codes for Healthcare Units". HL7 Deutschland e.V.. 2015-11-21. https://download.hl7.de/documents/ucum/ucumdata.html.

SI prefixesv * d * e

Prefix  | Base 10  | Decimal | English word  | Adoption[nb 1]

|
|
|
|

Name  | Symbol  | Short scale | Long scale
yotta | Y  |  1024 | 1000000000000000000000000 |  septillion  |  quadrillion  | 1991
zetta | Z  |  1021 | 1000000000000000000000 |  sextillion  |  trilliard  | 1991
exa | E  |  1018 | 1000000000000000000 |  quintillion  |  trillion  | 1975
peta | P  |  1015 | 1000000000000000 |  quadrillion  |  billiard  | 1975
tera | T  |  1012 | 1000000000000 |  trillion  |  billion  | 1960
giga | G  |  109 | 1000000000 |  billion  |  milliard  | 1960
mega | M  |  106 | 1000000 |  million  | 1873
kilo | k  |  103 | 1000 |  thousand  | 1795
hecto | h  |  102 | 100  |  hundred  | 1795
deca | da  |  101 | 10  |  ten  | 1795
|  100 | 1  |  one  | –
deci | d  |  10−1 | 0.1  |  tenth  | 1795
centi | c  |  10−2 | 0.01  |  hundredth  | 1795
milli | m  |  10−3 | 0.001  |  thousandth  | 1795
micro | μ  |  10−6 | 0.000001 |  millionth  | 1873
nano | n  |  10−9 | 0.000000001 |  billionth  |  milliardth  | 1960
pico | p  |  10−12 | 0.000000000001 |  trillionth  |  billionth  | 1960
femto | f  |  10−15 | 0.000000000000001 |  quadrillionth  |  billiardth  | 1964
atto | a  |  10−18 | 0.000000000000000001 |  quintillionth  |  trillionth  | 1964
zepto | z  |  10−21 | 0.000000000000000000001 |  sextillionth  |  trilliardth  | 1991
yocto | y  |  10−24 | 0.000000000000000000000001 |  septillionth  |  quadrillionth  | 1991

1. ↑ Prefixes adopted before 1960 already existed before SI. 1873 was the introduction of the CGS system.

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