Z
- Z
- a common symbol for Universal Time. This symbol
is often used with a 4-digit statement of the time in hours and minutes; thus
8:43 UT is written 0843 Z. The symbol is often pronounced "zulu," the name
of the letter Z in the international radio alphabet.
- z
- symbol for redshift, a unit
of relative distance used in astronomy.
- zak
- a Dutch unit of volume, now interpreted as a metric unit equal
to the hectoliter (100 liters). The hectoliter is equivalent to
26.417 U.S. gallons, 21.999
British Imperial gallons, or 3.5315 cubic feet. This is a metric
version of the British sack.
- zentner (Ztr)
- a traditional German unit of weight or mass, comparable to the
traditional quintal and to the
English hundredweight. Similar
units were used in Scandinavia. Originally the zentner was equal
to 100 pfund, or German pounds. 100
pfund varied from 110 to as much as 120 pounds
avoirdupois (49.9-54.4 kilograms), depending on the market. After
the introduction of the metric system in Germany, the zentner was
redefined to equal to exactly 50 kilograms, which is about 110.231
pounds. In English, the zentner is commonly spelled
centner.
- zepto- (z-)
- a metric prefix denoting 10-21 (one sextillionth).
Adopted by the CGPM in 1990, the prefix is
derived from the Latin septem, meaning 7, because this is
the seventh prefix (n = 7 in 10-3n) in the SI
system of metric prefixes. The s was replaced by a
z to avoid confusion with the abbreviation for the
second, which is an SI base unit.
- zetta- (Z-)
- a metric prefix denoting 1021 (one sextillion). The
prefix was coined to parallel the prefix zepto-.
- zettameter (Zm)
- a metric unit of distance equal to 1021 meters or
1018 kilometers. One zettameter equals about 32.408
kiloparsecs (kpc) or 105 702
light years. This is a little
more than the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy in which we
live.
- Zhubov scale
- a scale for reporting ice coverage of polar seas; see
ball.
- zoll
- the traditional German inch,
equal to 1/12 fuss. Originally the
zoll was equal to 1.037 inches (about 2.634 centimeters). In
Switzerland, it is now considered a metric unit equal to exactly 3
centimeters (1.1811 inches). There's no change in the plural.
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