1 KByte = 1024 or 1000 bytes?
- According to the international unit system SI (Système international d'unités) is the intent of Kilo for thousand times, Mega for Millions and Giga for billions of times that of a unit.
- 1 Kilobyte (KByte) should therefore correspond to 1000 bytes, but in practice there are, however, 1024 bytes. A Megabyte (MB) also is not 1,000,000 Bytes, but 1,048,576 Bytes.
- This is because, in computer language, a binary System is used, everything is in the core of zeros and ones. We multiply the 2 Bytes 10 times with themselves, we come to the well-known 1024 Bytes. The term KiloByte is thus formally incorrect, has become common.
Why is 1 KByte 1024 bytes? (Source: Pixabay.com)
Further confusion Kilobytes and bytes
- The sizes of files, memory, and capacity of CDs will be given today, as usual, in the formally incorrect Format of 1 KByte = 1024 bytes.
- It is different, however, in the case of hard drives, DVDs, and BluRays. Here, the manufacturers have to adhere to the SI standard, so that the invoice is valid for 1 KByte = 1000 Byte. This makes for confusion.
- To clear up this confusion, was created in the year 2000, a new standard. A kB is 1000 bytes, one Kilobyte is 1024 bytes. This designation prevailed, however, in any area really.
- Thus, it will come in the future to many confusion. Especially in mathematics, the difference is crucial, however, is extremely unclear. Here it depends on the context: In computer science you can expect in General, with 1024 Byte, in mathematics there are often 1000 bytes.
In the next practical tip we will show you, where the difference between a Bit and a Byte is.
