Post #2302297
2026-05-07 15:11 UTC
TIL the adoption dates of the SI prefixes:
1795: deca, hecto, kilo (10**3)
1873: mega (10**6)
1960: giga, tera (10**12)
1975: exa, peta (10**18)
1991: zetta, yotta (10**24)
2022: ronna, quetta (10**30)
So between 1960 and 1991 it was nearly two powers of 2 per year, then it dropped to one power of 2 per year.
So we might have to wait until 2050 or so for the 10**36 prefixes :)
I ignored the negative prefixes, which are symmetric.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix
Replies (1)
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@paul@m.pcgt.link 2026-05-07 15:24
@ligasser@social.epfl.ch Could start a Knuth-padded scale of SI prefixes: kilometer = 10↑3 m kiloknuthmeter = 10↑↑↑3 m megaknuthmeter = 10↑↑↑↑↑↑3 m gigaknuthmeter = 10↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑3 m etc... One kiloknuthmeter would be about 333,333,333 quettas stacked in front of a -meter.