Editing Long and short scales (section)

==Avoiding confusion==

One way to avoid confusion between the two scales is to use [[positional notation]]. For example, 1,000,000,000,000 rather than 1 trillion (short scale) or 1 billion (long scale). This method becomes unwieldy for very large numbers.

Combinations of the unambiguous words: ten, hundred, thousand, and million. For example: one thousand million and one million million.<ref>
{{cite web
 |title= BBC: GCSE Bitesize – The origins of the universe
 |work= BBC
 |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/space/theoriginsoftheuniverserev1.shtml
 |access-date= 28 July 2011
}}</ref>

[[Scientific notation]] (for example 1{{E|10}}), or its [[engineering notation]] variant (for example 10{{E|9}}), or the computing variant [[E notation]] (for example <code>1e10</code>). This is the most common practice among scientists and mathematicians.

[[SI]] [[metric prefix]]es. For example, [[giga]] for 10<sup>9</sup> and [[Metric prefix|tera]] for 10<sup>12</sup> can give [[gigawatt]] (10<sup>9</sup> W) and [[terawatt]] (10<sup>12</sup> W).<ref name="si" /> Use with non-SI units is unambiguous. For example, giga-dollars, megabucks, k€, and M€.