Tera-
Tera- (/ˈtɛrə/; symbol T) is a metric prefix denoting a factor of a short-scale trillion or long-scale billion (1012 or 1000000000000).[1] It was adopted in the International System of Units (SI) in 1960. The prefix is derived from the Greek word τέρας (téras), meaning "monster".[2]
Exponentiation
[edit]- 1 Tm2 means one square terametre, or the size of a 1000000000000 m × 1000000000000 m square (1024 m2), not 1000000000000 square metres (1012 m2).
- 1 Tm3 means one cubic terametre, or the size of a 1000000000000 m × 1000000000000 m × 1000000000000 m cube (1036 m3), not 1000000000000 cubic metres (1012 m3)
Computing
[edit]In computing, tera- may sometimes refer to 240 (10244 or 1099511627776) instead of 1012, such as in data storage units like the terabyte (TB). The binary prefix tebi- (/ˈtɛbɪ-/; symbol Ti) has been adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to signify 240 and avoid this ambiguity.[3] JEDEC however still uses tera- for 240 in its memory standards.[4]
Common usage
[edit]Computing
[edit]- terabyte (TB): unit of digital storage used in hard disk drives and solid-state drives.
- terabytes written (TBW), a standard for SSD reliability metrics by JEDEC.
- terabit (Tbit): common in data transmission rates.
- teraFLOPS (TFLOPS): used to describe performance in supercomputers and graphics processing units (GPUs).
Electromagnetism
[edit]- terahertz (THz): used to describe electromagnetic radiation with frequencies between microwave and infrared ranges, as in:
Energy and power
[edit]- terajoule (TJ): used to express energy yields of large events, such as nuclear explosions or earthquakes.
- terawatt (TW): used in measuring global electrical generation and consumption.
- Worldwide installed solar capacity reached several terawatts in 2022.[5]
- Peak power of a 30-microsecond lightning strike.
- terawatt-hour (TW⋅h or TWh): common unit for large-scale electrical energy production or consumption.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "SI Brochure – 9th ed./version 3.02". Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). Retrieved 2025-11-06.
- ^ "tera-". The American Heritage®. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
- ^ "Definitions of the SI units: The binary prefixes". physics.nist.gov. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
- ^ "Memory standards". JEDEC. Retrieved 2025-11-06.
- ^ "Yearly electricity data". Ember. 2024-01-04. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
External links
[edit]
Look up tera- in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
| Prefix | Base 10 | Decimal | Adoption [nb 1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Symbol | |||
| quetta | Q | 1030 | 1000000000000000000000000000000 | 2022[1] |
| ronna | R | 1027 | 1000000000000000000000000000 | |
| yotta | Y | 1024 | 1000000000000000000000000 | 1991 |
| zetta | Z | 1021 | 1000000000000000000000 | |
| exa | E | 1018 | 1000000000000000000 | 1975[2] |
| 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 or deka | 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[1] |
| quecto | q | 10−30 | 0.000000000000000000000000000001 | |
| ||||
- ^ a b On the extension of the range of SI prefixes. CGPM. Resolution 3 of the 27th CGPM (2022). BIPM. 18 November 2022. doi:10.59161/cgpm2022res3e. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "Metric (SI) Prefixes". NIST.