Prefixes: kilo, milli, micro, nano
Read any value on a part: k = × 1000, m = ÷ 1000, µ = ÷ 1,000,000, n = ÷ 1,000,000,000 (4.7 kΩ, 220 µF, 100 nF).
4.7k? 104? 220µ? What do these letters on your parts mean? 🔍
1️⃣ EVERY STEP = 1000×: M (mega) · k (kilo) · the unit · m (milli) · µ (micro) · n (nano) · p (pico). Kilo means × 1000, so 4.7 kΩ = 4.7 × 1000 = 4,700 Ω (the point jumps 3 places). Milli means ÷ 1000, so 20 mA = 0.02 A.
2️⃣ CAPACITORS ARE TINY: a ceramic cap marked 104 = 10 followed by four zeros = 100,000 pF = 100 nF = 0.1 µF. And a 220 µF electrolytic is just 0.00022 F.
3️⃣ ON YOUR UNO: the clock is 16 MHz = 16,000,000 ticks a second, so one tick takes 62.5 ns. Each output pin should give about 20 mA = 0.02 A.
📌 Kilo goes up, milli, micro, nano go down: every step is × 1000.
Read the voiceover (transcript)
- Four point seven k? What are these letters?
- Every step is a thousand! Four point seven k is four thousand seven hundred ohms!
- Caps are tiny! One oh four is ten, plus four zeros: one hundred nanofarads!
- Your Uno: sixteen megahertz, and twenty milliamps a pin!
- Each step: times a thousand!
- Next: tolerance! Follow for lesson eleven!
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