Memorizing SI Units

[Amanda Bueno-Kling]

Are we expected to memorize SI units? I have some of them memorized, but could not remember what power of 10 a picometer was on the exam. I didn't see SI units given on the exam or on the formulas sheet, so I am guessing we should memorize them?
Does anyone have any tricks they use to memorize them, such as making an acronym or rhyme? I'm wondering what is the best way to memorize them quickly and easily. Thanks!

[Katie Phan 1K]

I don't think we are expected to memorize SI units. The picometer conversion was actually on the formula sheet for the midterm! It was a little hard to find for me too.

[nayha a 1E]

Hi! I can confirm that the conversion was on the equations sheet we had for the midterm. I believe it was in the middle, on the right side based off of memory.

[Emma Healy 2J]

Hi Amanda! I am not sure which ones we should have memorized, and I have this same question too. I did find picometers on the formula sheet, which is given as 1 pm = 10^-12 m. I think an acronym could be really helpful if someone has one!

[Teti Omilana 1G]

I don't know if this will help you, but in HS they taught us the mnemonic "King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk Monday Night" (kilo, hecto, deka, base, deci, centi, milli, micro, nano) to memorize the order of the SI units.

[Kushaal Madadi 2F]

Hey! The conversions between different lengths is not too difficult if you pay attention to certain patterns. For example, a lot of the prefixes denote values which happen at intervals of 3: millimeter 10^6; nanometer 10^9; picometer 10^12. Exceptions are meter, decimeter, and centimeter.

[Hasan Mirza 3F]

I think you definitely want to have a good idea of the SI units but the weirder conversions are usually on the formula sheet unless we are told otherwise.

[Cass Cheng 2A]

You definitely don't have to memorize them, since a lot of them are on the formula sheet Dr. Lavelle provides. But even so, I find it extremely helpful if you do have a general idea of the basic SI units, since that makes solving problems much more efficient.

[Samantha Pedersen 2K]

What I did to memorize the prefixes for SI Units was make a Quizlet set including the prefixes and the values they represent. Then, I tested myself on the Quizlet using the Learn and Write options until I felt confident.

[Mahnoor_Wani_1I]

I also had trouble memorizing the SI units. I think what helped me was this mnemonic:
Tera – The
Giga – Great
Mega – Man
kilo – king
hecto – henry’s
deca – daughter
BASE – Beth
deci – drinks
centi – cold
mili – milk
micro – μntil
nano – nine
pico – pm

and since the SI unit increases/decreases by 10^3 power after 10^2 :

Tera – The = 10^12
Giga – Great = 10^9
Mega – Man = 10^6
kilo – king = 10^3
hecto – henry’s 10^2
deca – daughter 10^1
BASE – Beth = 10^0
deci – drinks = 10^ -1
centi – cold = ^ 10^-2
mili – milk = 10^ -3
micro – μntil 10^-5
nano – nine 10^-9
pico – pm 10^-12

My suggestion is to use either a pre-existing mnemonic or make your own to memorize !!

[Kathy_Li_1H]

Hi! I think you can memorize them just to make it easier for yourself but some of the conversions are actually on the reference sheet! If you don't end up memorizing them yourself, I find that oftentimes I gradually start memorizing the numbers and conversions.

[Olivia Monroy 1A]

I'd say eventually memorizing would be smart just so you can quickly apply them to problems, but as people said some are given on the formula sheet. Eventually after using them so many times it should just stick!

[ShinwooKim_3E]

Are we expected to memorize SI units? I have some of them memorized, but could not remember what power of 10 a picometer was on the exam. I didn't see SI units given on the exam or on the formulas sheet, so I am guessing we should memorize them?
Does anyone have any tricks they use to memorize them, such as making an acronym or rhyme? I'm wondering what is the best way to memorize them quickly and easily. Thanks!

I think it's highly recommended! It's easier to tackle each question once you memorize, and there are a lot of mneumonics out there to help you memorize!

[Bai Rong Lin 2K]

Are we expected to memorize SI units? I have some of them memorized, but could not remember what power of 10 a picometer was on the exam. I didn't see SI units given on the exam or on the formulas sheet, so I am guessing we should memorize them?
Does anyone have any tricks they use to memorize them, such as making an acronym or rhyme? I'm wondering what is the best way to memorize them quickly and easily. Thanks!

I think having it memorized would be very beneficial when coming to a problem that requires it! but I think they would use the ones on the formula sheet most of the time.

[TiffanyBrownfield 2I]

I'd say that it's probably good to have the most common units memorized. For example kilo (10^3), milli (10^-3), micro (10^-6), nano (10^-9), and pico (10^-12) are the ones most often used.