Giga
Encyclopedia : G : GI : GIG : Giga
- For the Baroque dance, see gigue.
Confirmed in 1960, it comes from the Greek γίγας, meaning .
In computing, giga- can sometimes mean 1 073 741 824 (230) for information units, eg gigabit or gigabyte, but can also denote 1 000 000 000 of other quantities, e.g. transfer rates: 1 gigabit/s = 1 000 000 000 bit/s. The binary prefix gibi- has been suggested for 230, to resolve this ambiguity, but has yet to achieve widespread usage.
Pronunciation
As giga is a greek word and greek is a phonetic language it is pronounced with a hard G as in giggle. An incorrect pronunciation is found in the 1985 movie Back to the Future, where gigawatts was pronounced as jigawatts. This was before units like gigabyte became common, and was used to emphasize magnitude, since quantities that large were rare at the time. This pronunciation was briefly popular in the USA before the correct hard G pronunciation came into common use as measurements such as gigabyte and gigahertz became ubiquitous.Common usage
- Gigabyte — hard disk capacity, e.g. 120 GB; DVD capacity, e.g. 4.7 GB = 4.7 × 1 073 741 824 bytes
- Gigahertz — clock rate of a CPU, e.g. 3 GHz = 3 000 000 000 Hz
- Gigabit — bandwidth of a network, e.g. 1 Gbit = 1 000 000 000 bit/s
- Gigabort - Common slang expression that could represent any of the above. Used to mock those that don't know the difference between bytes, bits, hertz, etc.
| 10n | Prefix | Symbol | Short scale | Long scale | Decimal equivalent in SI#SI writing style > SI writing style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1024 | yotta | Y | Septillion | Quadrillion | 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 |
| 1021 | zetta | Z | Sextillion | Trilliard (thousand trillion) | 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 |
| 1018 | exa | E | Quintillion | Trillion | 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 |
| 1015 | peta | P | Quadrillion | Billiard (thousand billion) | 1 000 000 000 000 000 |
| 1012 | tera | T | Trillion | Billion | 1 000 000 000 000 |
| 109 | giga | G | Billion | Milliard (thousand million) | 1 000 000 000 |
| 106 | mega | M | Million | 1 000 000 | |
| 103 | kilo | k | Thousand | 1 000 | |
| 102 | hecto | h | Hundred | 100 | |
| 101 | deca, deka | da | Ten | 10 | |
| 100 | (none) | (none) | One | 1 | |
| 10−1 | deci | d | Tenth | 0.1 | |
| 10−2 | centi | c | Hundredth | 0.01 | |
| 10−3 | milli | m | Thousandth | 0.001 | |
| 10−6 | micro | µ (u) | Millionth | 0.000 001 | |
| 10−9 | nano | n | Billionth | Milliardth | 0.000 000 001 |
| 10−12 | pico | p | Trillionth | Billionth | 0.000 000 000 001 |
| 10−15 | femto | f | Quadrillionth | Billiardth | 0.000 000 000 000 001 |
| 10−18 | atto | a | Quintillionth | Trillionth | 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 |
| 10−21 | zepto | z | Sextillionth | Trilliardth | 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 |
| 10−24 | yocto | y | Septillionth | Quadrillionth | 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 |
See also
External links
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