# The Metric System

The metric system is a system of measurement based on the powers of $10$ . First adopted in France in $1791$ , the metric system has become widely used in many countries of the world, and is the main system used in science.

The basic metric unit of length is the meter , equal to about $3.28$ feet. Some smaller and larger units are named as follows:

 nanometer(nm) $\frac{1}{1,000,000,000}$ of a meter micrometer(um) $\frac{1}{1,000,000}$ of a meter millimeter(mm) $\frac{1}{1000}$ of a meter centimeter(cm) $\frac{1}{100}$ of a meter decimeter(dm) $\frac{1}{10}$ of a meter meter(m) $1$ meter dekameter(dam) $10$ meters hectometer(hm) $100$ meters kilometer(km) $1000$ meters Megameter(Mm) $1,000,000$ meters Gigameter(Gm) $1,000,000,000$ meters Terameter(Tm) $1,000,000,000,000$ meters

The same prefixes are used for other units. For example, $1$ kilogram is equal to $1000$ grams (a unit of mass), and $1$ centiliter is equal to $\frac{1}{100}$ of a liter (a unit of volume).

Other metric units include the newton (a unit of force), the pascal (a unit of pressure), the watt (a unit of power), the joule (a unit of energy), and the ampere (a unit of electric current).