Which term describes the small unit equal to one thousandth of a meter?

Which term describes the small unit equal to one thousandth of a meter?

• A. centimeter
• B. meter
• C. millimeter
• D. kilometer

Answer: (C)

One key idea here is metric prefixes and length units. The prefix milli- means one thousandth, so a millimeter is 0.001 of a meter. That makes it the unit that describes parts of a meter at a very small scale. In contrast, a centimeter is 0.01 of a meter (not 0.001), a meter is the whole unit itself, and a kilometer is 1000 meters (much larger than a meter). The millimeter is the right term for the tiny measurement described, and its symbol is mm.

One key idea here is metric prefixes and length units. The prefix milli- means one thousandth, so a millimeter is 0.001 of a meter. That makes it the unit that describes parts of a meter at a very small scale. In contrast, a centimeter is 0.01 of a meter (not 0.001), a meter is the whole unit itself, and a kilometer is 1000 meters (much larger than a meter). The millimeter is the right term for the tiny measurement described, and its symbol is mm.