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» Home » Graphics Kilobytes,
Megabytes and Gigabytes, Oh My! As you may or may not know, computers are based on what is known as the binary numbering system. The binary system contains two unique numbers which are 0 and 1. Computers run on electronic pulses that can give the information on or off. Each one of these pulses or pieces of binary code is called a "bit." Lots and lots of these bits work together to make your computer work with simple commands that form complex commands. Pretty simple, so far. A byte consists of 8 bits of information or 2 to the 4th power (two because there's two commands remember?). A byte is capable of holding one character. A kilobyte contains 1,024 bytes (2 to the 10th power) of information. "Kilo" in decimal systems stands for 1,000 but in binary, a kilobyte contains a little more. Because of this, a kilobyte (or a "k" or a "kb") is frequently referred to as 1,000 bytes. If you want to be really exact in your measurements, I've heard that a capirtal K is used to indicate a binary kilo (1,024) and a lowercase k is used to indicate a traditional kilo (1,000). If a floppy disk could contain 720k of information, then it could contain 720,000 bytes or characters. A megabyte is the next step up from a kilobyte. A megabyte (frequently abbreviated as "m" or "mb") contains 1,048,576 bytes (2 to the 20th power). You could also look at it as containing 1,024 kilobytes. If a floppy disk contains 1.2mb of data, then it could contain 1,258,291 bytes or characters. A gigabyte is the next step up. A gigabyte (or a "g" or "gb") contains 1,073,741,824 bytes (2 to the 30th power). A gigabyte contains 1,024 megabytes. If a portable hard drive could contain two gigabytes of data, then it could contain 2,147,483,648 bytes or characters. If all of that got a little confusing, this might seem a little more clear and to the point:
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