Computer Measurements

Measurement Prefixes

The following tables summarize common measurements used with computers — especially the larger ones that aren’t in everyday use, yet.

Number (Base 2) Prefix
2^10 = 1,024 Kilo
2^20 = 1,048,576 Mega
2^30 = 1,073,741,824 Giga
2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776 Tera
2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624 Peta
2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 Exa
2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 Zetta
2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 Yotta
Number (Base 10) Name
10^3 = 1,000 Thousand
10^6 = 1,000,000 Million
10^9 = 1,000,000,000 Billion
10^12 = 1,000,000,000,000 Trillion
10^15 = 1,000,000,000,000,000 Quadrillion
10^18 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Quintillion
10^21 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Sextillion
10^24 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Septillion

The American number naming convention continues beyond what is shown here, but the IEC prefix convention only covers what is shown above. See [1] below for the number naming convention(s) beyond this point.

Reference

  1. Binary prefix (Wikipedia)
  2. Names of large numbers (Wikipedia)
  3. International Electrotechnical Commission