Saturday, September 13, 2008

Nano vs. Pico

Nanotechnology is a really hot topic these days. The term "nano" is so trendy. The Apple iPod Nano is a prime example of how companies are leveraging the term "nano." Apple had the mini, and instead of coming out with the "micro" they came out with the nano. Why not the pico?

So when will the buzz grow for "pico"? The projector industry is using this term to talk about new projectors that fit in your pocket. Why not use the word nano? Is nano overused? Will Apple release an iPod pico? Will we start seeing pico overused?

In SI units, a nanometer = 1×10−9 m
and
a picometer = 1×10−12 m

so what about the others?

According to wikipedia:
Subdivisions Name
deci- centi- milli- micro- nano- pico- femto- atto- zepto- yocto-
Symbol
d c m ยต n p f a z y
Factor 100 10−1 10−2 10−3 10−6 10−9 10−12 10−15 10−18 10−21 10−24
I personally like zepto, but yocto sounds more unusual. Have you noticed how letters near the end of the alphabet (like Z and Y) are popular in brand drug names?

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