Mega
Mega (symbol M) is a SI prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 106, i.e. one million; 1 000 000.
Confirmed in 1960, it comes from the Greek μέγας, meaning great.
For example, 1 MW (megawatt) = 1 000 000 watts = 1 000 kilowatts.
Other common examples of usage
- one megaton [of TNT] (a unit often used in measuring the explosive power of nuclear weapons) is 1,000,000 tTNT.
- Megahertz - frequency of electromagnetic radiation for radio and televion broadcasting, GSM, etc. 1 MHz = 1 000 000 Hz
Computing
In computing, mega can sometimes denote 1,048,576 (220) of information units (example: a megabyte, a megaword), but can denote 1 000 000 (106) of other quantities, for example, transfer rates: 1 megabit/s = 1 000 000 bit/s.
The prefix mebi has been suggested as an alternative for 220 to avoid ambiguity, but is yet to be widely used.
| SI prefixes Edit (http://www.mywiseowl.com/index.php?title=Template:SI_prefixes&action=edit) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Sub)multiple | Prefix | Symbol | Short scale Name | Long scale Name |
| 1024 | yotta | Y | Septillion | Quadrillion |
| 1021 | zetta | Z | Sextillion | Thousand trillion (Trilliard) |
| 1018 | exa | E | Quintillion | Trillion |
| 1015 | peta | P | Quadrillion | Thousand billion (Billiard) |
| 1012 | tera | T | Trillion | Billion |
| 109 | giga | G | Billion | Thousand million (Milliard) |
| 106 | mega | M | Million | |
| 103 | kilo | k | Thousand | |
| 102 | hecto | h | Hundred | |
| 101 | deca | da | Ten | |
| 10-1 | deci | d | Tenth | |
| 10-2 | centi | c | Hundredth | |
| 10-3 | milli | m | Thousandth | |
| 10-6 | micro | µ | Millionth | |
| 10-9 | nano | n | Billionth | Milliardth |
| 10-12 | pico | p | Trillionth | Billionth |
| 10-15 | femto | f | Quadrillionth | Billiardth |
| 10-18 | atto | a | Quintillionth | Trillionth |
| 10-21 | zepto | z | Sextillionth | Trilliardth |
| 10-24 | yocto | y | Septillionth | Quadrillionth |
See also
External links
- BIPM website (http://www.bipm.org)
- Conversion of bits and bytes (http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-bits.htm)
ca:Mega da:Mega de:Mega es:Mega fr:Méga nl:Mega pl:Mega sl:mega fi:Mega
The prefix "mega-" (or "megalo-") also means "large", coming from a Greek word with that exact meaning. An example of a word with "mega" meaning large is Megalosaurus.
La Mega is a station in Panama and is on 98.5 FM Mega is also the name of a town in Ethiopia Mega Channel is also the Greek language terrestrial station of Greece and Cyprus.