How to use the powers of 10 chart
- Find a power by its exponent (6), the power (10^6), its name (million) or its metric prefix (mega).
- Read the number written out, with its name and prefix.
- Click a value to copy it as plain digits.
Counting zeros
For a positive power of 10, the exponent is the number of zeros: 10³ is 1,000 and 10⁹ is 1,000,000,000. For a negative power, it’s how many places the 1 sits after the decimal point: 10⁻² is 0.01. That’s why powers of 10 make very large and very small numbers easy to compare. 10⁹ is a thousand times 10⁶ because the exponents differ by 3.
The names in the chart follow the short scale used in English today, where each new name (million, billion, trillion) is a thousand times the one before. For names beyond a nonillion and how other languages count, see large number names.