Nano (symbol n) is a
unit prefix A unit prefix is a specifier or mnemonic that is prepended to units of measurement to indicate multiples or fractions of the units. Units of various sizes are commonly formed by the use of such prefixes. The prefixes of the metric system, such as ...
meaning "one
billionth
This list contains selected positive numbers in increasing order, including counts of things, dimensionless quantities and probabilities. Each number is given a name in the short scale, which is used in English-speaking countries, as well as a ...
". Used primarily with the
metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the Interna ...
, this prefix denotes a factor of 10
−9 or . It is frequently encountered in
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
and
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
for prefixing
units
Unit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''
* Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation
Music
* Unit (album), ...
of
time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
and
length.
;Examples:
* Three gold atoms lined up are about one
nanometer (nm) long.
* If a
toy marble were scaled down to one nanometer wide, Earth would scale to about wide.
* One
nanosecond
A nanosecond (ns) is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one billionth of a second, that is, of a second, or 10 seconds.
The term combines the SI prefix ''nano-'' indicating a 1 billionth submultiple of an SI unit ( ...
(ns) is about the time required for light to travel 30 cm in air, or 20 cm in an optical fiber.
* One nanometer per second (nm/s) is approximately the speed that a fingernail grows.
The prefix derives from the Greek (Latin ), 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
The nanoscopic scale (or nanoscale) usually refers to structures with a length scale applicable to nanotechnology, usually cited as 1–100 nanometers (nm). A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. The nanoscopic scale is (roughly speaking) a lo ...
).
Nanometre
Nanosecond
See also
*
RKM code
The RKM code, also referred to as "letter and numeral code for resistance and capacitance values and tolerances", "letter and digit code for resistance and capacitance values and tolerances", or informally as "R notation" is a notation to speci ...
References
{{Reflist
SI prefixes
simple:Nano-