Mega-
Mega is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of one million (106 or 1000000). It was confirmed for use in the International System of Units (SI) in 1960. Mega comes from the Greek μέγας, meaning great.[1]
Other common examples of usage
- megapixel - 1 million pixels in a digital camera
- one megatonne (of TNT) (a unit often used in measuring the explosive power of nuclear weapons) is the approximate energy released on igniting one million tonnes of TNT.
- megahertz — frequency of electromagnetic radiation for radio and television broadcasting, GSM, etc. 1 MHz = 1,000,000 Hz.
Exponentiation
When units occur in exponentiation, such as in square and cubic forms, any size prefix is considered part of the unit, and thus included in the exponentiation.
- 1 Mm2 means one square megametre or the size of a square of 1000000m by 1000000m or 1012m2, and not 1000000square metres (106 m2).
- 1 Mm3 means one cubic megametre or the size of a cube of 1000000m by 1000000m by 1000000m or 1018 m3, and not 1000000cubic metres (106 m3)
Computing
In computing, mega may sometimes denote 1,048,576 (220) of information units (example: a megabyte, a megaword), but denotes 1000000 (106) units of other quantities, for example, transfer rates: 1megabit/s = 1000000bit/s. The prefix mebi has been suggested as a prefix for 220 to avoid ambiguity.
| Prefix | Base 10 | Decimal | Adoption [nb 1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Symbol | |||
| quetta | Q | 1030 | 1000000000000000000000000000000 | 2022[2] |
| ronna | R | 1027 | 1000000000000000000000000000 | |
| yotta | Y | 1024 | 1000000000000000000000000 | 1991 |
| zetta | Z | 1021 | 1000000000000000000000 | |
| exa | E | 1018 | 1000000000000000000 | 1975[3] |
| peta | P | 1015 | 1000000000000000 | |
| tera | T | 1012 | 1000000000000 | 1960 |
| giga | G | 109 | 1000000000 | |
| mega | M | 106 | 1000000 | 1873 |
| kilo | k | 103 | 1000 | 1795 |
| hecto | h | 102 | 100 | |
| deca | da | 101 | 10 | |
| — | — | 100 | 1 | — |
| deci | d | 10−1 | 0.1 | 1795 |
| centi | c | 10−2 | 0.01 | |
| milli | m | 10−3 | 0.001 | |
| micro | μ | 10−6 | 0.000001 | 1873 |
| nano | n | 10−9 | 0.000000001 | 1960 |
| pico | p | 10−12 | 0.000000000001 | |
| femto | f | 10−15 | 0.000000000000001 | 1964 |
| atto | a | 10−18 | 0.000000000000000001 | |
| zepto | z | 10−21 | 0.000000000000000000001 | 1991 |
| yocto | y | 10−24 | 0.000000000000000000000001 | |
| ronto | r | 10−27 | 0.000000000000000000000000001 | 2022[2] |
| quecto | q | 10−30 | 0.000000000000000000000000000001 | |
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See also
References
- ^ "[http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00304790 mega-]". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: External link in|title= - ^ a b "On the extension of the range of SI prefixes". 18 November 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "Metric (SI) Prefixes". NIST.
External links
Look up mega- in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.