Which abbreviation stands for 1 centigram?

• A. 1 dg
• B. 1 g
• C. 1 cg
• D. 1 mg

Answer: (C)

Understanding metric prefixes and how they map to mass units is what this question tests. A centigram is 0.01 gram because centi- means one hundredth. The abbreviation for centi- gram is cg, so 1 cg equals 0.01 g. That makes cg the best match for 1 centigram.

To see why the other abbreviations don’t fit: decigram uses deci- (one tenth), so 1 dg equals 0.1 g. The base unit is gram, so 1 g equals 1 g. milligram uses milli- (one thousandth), so 1 mg equals 0.001 g. These illustrate how different prefixes change the value, confirming cg corresponds to 0.01 g.