Convert kilo, mega, giga and tera


This is a guide to understanding the different units of measurement used for example in computing and data storage.

Below is a conversion table from one unit to yotta:

Unit Symbol Value
One 1
Kilo k 1 000
Mega M 1 000 000
Giga G 1 000 000 000
Tera T 1 000 000 000 000
Peta P 1 000 000 000 000 000
Exa E 1 000 000 000 000 000 000
Zetta Z 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
Yotta Y 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000

Note that each unit is 1 000 times larger than the previous one. For example, a kilobyte is 1 000 bytes, a megabyte is 1 000 kilobytes, a gigabyte is 1 000 megabytes, and so on. The prefix symbol is often used to represent the unit, so you might see a file size listed as "10 MB" for 10 megabytes, or a storage capacity listed as "1 TB" for 1 terabyte.

Example

We are going to convert gigabytes to terabytes:
To convert gigabytes (GB) to terabytes (TB), you can divide the number of gigabytes by 1 000. For example, if you have a storage device with a capacity of 500 GB, you can convert it to terabytes by dividing 500 by 1 000, which gives you 0.5 TB.

Below is a conversion table from one unit to yocto:

Unit Symbol Value
One 1
Deci d 0.1
Centi c 0.01
Milli m 0.001
Micro μ 0.000 001
Nano n 0.000 000 001
Pico p 0.000 000 000 001
Femto f 0.000 000 000 000 001
Atto a 0.000 000 000 000 000 001
Zepto z 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001
Yocto y 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001

Example

We are going to convert nano (n) to milli (m).
You can use the following conversion factor:
1 milli = 1 000 000 nano

To convert from nano to milli, you need to divide the value by 1,000,000. Here's the formula:
value in milli = value in nano / 1,000,000

For example, let's say you have a value of 500 nanometers (nm) and you want to convert it to millimeters (mm). You would use the above formula as follows:
value in milli = 500 nm / 1 000 000 = 0.0005 mm

You can use prefixes such as kilo, mega, giga, milli, and nano with most metric units. These prefixes are used to indicate multiples or fractions of the base unit. For example:

Kilogram (kg): 1 kilogram = 1 000 grams
Megabyte (MB): 1 megabyte = 1 000 000 bytes
Gigawatt (GW): 1 gigawatt = 1 000 000 000 watts
Millimeter (mm): 1 millimeter = 0.001 meters
Nanosecond (ns): 1 nanosecond = 0.000 000 001 seconds

Here are some more details about the use of metric prefixes with units:

Prefixes indicate multiples or fractions of the base unit:
Each prefix represents a specific multiple or fraction of the base unit. For example, kilo means "thousand," so 1 kilogram (kg) is equal to 1 000 grams (g). Nano means "billionth," so 1 nanometer (nm) is equal to 0.000 000 001 meters (m).

Prefixes are standardized:
The International System of Units (SI) is the standard system of units used worldwide, and it specifies the prefixes that can be used with each unit. The SI prefixes are based on powers of 10 and are designed to be easily convertible. For example, the prefix milli means "thousandth," so 1 millimeter (mm) is equal to 0.001 meters (m).

Some units have multiple prefixes:
Depending on the context or field of application, some units may have different prefixes that represent different multiples or fractions of the base unit. For example, the unit of frequency can be expressed in hertz (Hz), kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz), or gigahertz (GHz), where each prefix represents a different order of magnitude.

Prefixes can be combined:
It is possible to combine multiple prefixes to represent very large or very small quantities. For example, a terabyte (TB) is equal to 1 000 gigabytes (GB), which is equal to 1 000 000 megabytes (MB), which is equal to 1 000 000 000 bytes (B). Conversely, a picosecond (ps) is equal to 0.000 000 000 001 seconds (s), which is equal to 0.001 nanoseconds (ns), which is equal to 1 000 picoseconds (ps).

Prefixes can be used with non-metric units:
Although metric prefixes were originally developed for use with the metric system of units, they can also be used with other systems of units. For example, the unit of time "minute" can be expressed in milliseconds (ms) or microseconds (μs) to represent smaller fractions of a minute.