| Orders of magnitude (data)An order of magnitude is generally a factor of ten. A quantity growing by four orders of magnitude implies it has grown by a factor of 10000 or 104. However, because computers are binary, orders of magnitude are sometimes given as powers of two. This article presents a list of multiples, sorted by orders of magnitude, for digital information storage measured in bits. This article assumes a descriptive attitude towards terminology, reflecting general usage. The article assumes the following: - A group of 8 bits constitutes one byte. The byte is the most common unit of measurement of information (megabyte, mebibyte, gigabyte, gibibyte, etc.).
- In 16-bit and 32-bit architectures, having processor registers of these sizes, that chunk of data is usually called a word.
- The decimal SI prefixes kilo, mega etc., are powers of 10. The power of two equivalents are the binary prefixes kibi, mebi, etc.
Accordingly: - 1 kB (kilobyte) = 1000 bytes = 8000 bits
- 1 KiB (kibibyte) = 210 bytes = 1024 bytes = 8192 bits
Orders of magnitude (data)Binary | Decimal | Item |
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Factor | Term | Factor | Term |
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20 | bit | 100 | bit | 1 bit – 0 or 1, false or true, Low or High | | | | | 1.6 bits – approximate size of a trit (a base-3 digit) | 21 | | | | 2 bits – a crumb (rarely used term), enough to uniquely identify one base pair of genetic code | | | | | 3 bits – the size of an octal digit | 22 | nibble[1] | | | 4 bits – (aka "nibble" or "semioctet", rarely used) the size of a hexadecimal digit; decimal digits in binary-coded decimal form | | | | | 5 bits – the size of code points in the Baudot code, used in telex communication | | | | | 6 bits – the size of code points in Univac Fieldata, in IBM "BCD" format, and in Braille. Enough to uniquely identify one codon of genetic code. | | | | | 7 bits – the size of code points in the ASCII character set – minimum length to store 2 decimal digits
| 23 | byte | | | 8 bits – (a.k.a. "octet") on many computer architectures. – Equivalent to 1 "word" on 8-bit computers (Apple II, Atari 800, Commodore 64, et al.). – the "word size" (instruction length) for 8-bit console systems including: Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System | | | 101 | decabit | 10 bits
– minimum bit length to store a single byte with error-correcting memory – minimum frame length to transmit a single byte with asynchronous serial protocols | | | | | 12 bits – wordlength of the PDP-8 of Digital Equipment Corporation (built from 1965–1990) | 24 | | | | 16 bits
– commonly used in many programming languages, the size of an integer capable of holding 65,536 different values – Equivalent to 1 "word" on 16-bit computers (IBM PC, Commodore Amiga) – the "word size" (instruction length) for 16-bit console systems including: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Mattel Intellivision | 25 | | | | 32 bits (4 bytes)
– size of an integer capable of holding 4,294,967,296 different values – size of an IEEE 754 single-precision floating point number – size of addresses in IPv4, the current Internet protocol – Equivalent to 1 "word" on 32-bit computers (Apple Macintosh, Pentium-based PC). – the "word size" (instruction length) for various console systems including: PlayStation, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, Wii | | | | | 36 bits – size of word on Univac 1100-series computers and Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP-10 | | | | | 56 bits (7 bytes) – cipher strength of the DES encryption standard | 26 | | | | 64 bits (8 bytes)
– size of an integer capable of holding 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 different values – size of an IEEE 754 double-precision floating point number – Equivalent to 1 "word" on 64-bit computers (Power, PA-Risc, Alpha, Itanium, Sparc, x86-64 PCs and Macintoshes). – the "word size" (instruction length) for 64-bit console systems including: Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | | | | | 80 bits (10 bytes) – size of an extended precision floating point number, for intermediate calculations that can be performed in floating point units of most processors of the x86 family | | | 102 | hectobit | 100 bits | 27 | | | | 128 bits (16 bytes)
– size of addresses in IPv6, the successor protocol of IPv4 – minimum cipher strength of the Rijndael and AES encryption standards, and of the widely used MD5 cryptographic message digest algorithm | | | | | 160 bits – maximum key length of the SHA-1, standard Tiger (hash), and Tiger2 cryptographic message digest algorithms | 28 | | | | 256 bits (32 bytes) – minimum key length for the recommended strong cryptographic message digests as of 2004[update] | 29 | | | | 512 bits (64 bytes) – maximum key length for the standard strong cryptographic message digests in 2004 | | | 103 | kilobit | 1000 bits | 210 | kibibit | | | 1024 bits (128 bytes) | | | | | 1288 bits – approximate maximum capacity of a standard magnetic stripe card | 211 | | | | 2048 bits (256 bytes) – RAM capacity of the stock Altair 8800 | 212 | | | | 4096 bits (512 bytes) – typical sector size, and minimum space allocation unit on computer storage volumes, with most file systems – approximate amount of information on a sheet of single-spaced typewritten paper (without formatting)
| | | | | 4704 bits (588 bytes) – uncompressed single-channel frame length in standard MPEG audio (75 frames per second and per channel), with medium quality 8-bit sampling at 44,100 Hz (or 16-bit sampling at 22,050 Hz) | | | | | 8000 bits (103 bytes) – one kilobyte | 213 | kibibyte | | | 8192 bits (1,024 bytes) – RAM capacity of a Sinclair ZX81. | | | | | 9408 bits (1,176 bytes) – uncompressed single-channel frame length in standard MPEG audio (75 frames per second and per channel), with standard 16-bit sampling at 44,100 Hz | | | 104 | | 15,360 bits – one screen of data displayed on an 8-bit monochrome text console (80x24) | 214 | | | | 16,384 bits (2 kibibytes) – one page of typed text,[2] RAM capacity of Nintendo Entertainment System | 215 | | | | 32,768 bits (4 kibibytes) | 216 | | | | 65,536 bits (8 kibibytes) | | | 105 | | 100,000 bits | 217 | | | | 131,072 bits (16 kibibytes) – RAM capacity of the smallest Sinclair ZX Spectrum. | | | | | 160 kilobits – approximate size of this article as of 15 April 2010 | 218 | | | | 262,144 bits (32 kibibytes) | 219 | | | | 524,288 bits (64 kibibytes) – RAM capacity of a lot of popular 8-bit Computers like the C-64, Amstrad CPC etc. | | | 106 | megabit | 1,000,000 bits | 220 | mebibit | | | 1,048,576 bits (128 kibibytes) – RAM capacity of popular 8-bit Computers like the C-128, Amstrad CPC etc. | | | | | 1,978,560 bits – a one-page, standard-resolution black-and-white fax (1728 �- 1145 pixels) | 221 | | | | 2,097,152 bits (256 kibibytes) | | | | | 4,147,200 bits – one frame of uncompressed NTSC DVD video (720 �- 480 �- 12 bpp Y'CbCr) | 222 | | | | 4,194,304 bits (512 kibibytes) | | | | | 4,976,640 bits – one frame of uncompressed PAL DVD video (720 �- 576 �- 12 bpp Y'CbCr) | | | | | 5,242,880 bits (640 kibibytes) – the maximum addressable memory of the original IBM PC architecture | | | | | 8,000,000 bits (106 bytes) – the preferred definition of megabyte | | | | | 8,343,400 bits – one "typical" sized photograph with reasonably good quality (1024 �- 768 pixels). | 223 | mebibyte | | | 8,388,608 bits (1024 kibibytes), one of a few traditional meanings of megabyte | | | 107 | | 11,520,000 bits – capacity of a lower-resolution computer monitor (as of 2006), 800 �- 600 pixels, 24 bpp | | | | | 11,796,480 bits – capacity of a 3.5 in floppy disk, colloquially known as 1.44 megabyte but actually 1.44 �- 1000 �- 1024 bytes | 224 | | | | 16,777,216 bits (2 mebibytes) | | | | | 25 megabits – amount of data in a typical color slide | 225 | | | | 33,554,432 bits (4 mebibytes) – RAM capacity of stock Nintendo 64 | | | | | 41,943,040 bits (5 mebibytes) – approximate size of the Complete Works of Shakespeare[2] | | | | | 98,304,000 bits – capacity of a high-resolution computer monitor as of 2011, 2560 �- 1600 pixels, 24 bpp | | | | | 50–100 megabits – amount of information in a typical phone book | 226 | | 108 | | 67,108,864 bit (8 mebibytes) | 227 | | | | 134,217,728 bits (16 mebibytes) | | | | | 150 megabits – amount of data in a large foldout map | 228 | | | | 268,435,456 (32 mebibytes) | | | | | 423,360,000 bits: a five-minute audio recording, in CDDA quality | 229 | | | | 536,870,912 bits (64 mebibytes) | | | 109 | gigabit | 1,000,000,000 bits | 230 | gibibit | | | 1,073,741,824 bits (128 mebibytes) | 231 | | | | 2,147,483,648 bits (256 mebibytes) | 232 | | | | 4,294,967,296 bits (512 mebibytes) | | | | | 5.45�-109 bits (650 mebibytes) – capacity of a regular compact disc | | | | | 5.89�-109 bits (702 mebibytes) – capacity of a large regular compact disc | | | | | 6.4�-109 bits – capacity of the human genome (assuming 2 bits for each base pair) | 233 | gibibyte | | | 8,589,934,592 bits (1024 mebibytes) | | | 1010 | | 10,000,000,000 bits | 234 | | | | 17,179,869,184 bits (2 gibibytes) | 235 | | | | 34,359,738,368 bits (4 gibibytes) – maximum addressable memory on the Intel 80386 | | | | | 3.76�-1010 bits (4.7 gigabytes) – capacity of a single-layer, single-sided DVD | 236 | | | | 68,719,476,736 bits (8 gibibytes) | | | 1011 | | 100,000,000,000 bits | 237 | | | | 137,438,953,472 bits (16 gibibytes) | | | | | 1.46�-1011 bits (17 gigabytes) – capacity of a double-sided, dual-layered DVD | | | | | 2.15�-1011 bits (25 gigabytes) – capacity of a single-sided, single-layered 12-cm Blu-ray disc | 238 | | | | 274,877,906,944 bits (32 gibibytes) | 239 | | | | 549,755,813,888 bits (64 gibibytes) | | | 1012 | terabit | 1,000,000,000,000 bits (125 gigabytes) | 240 | tebibit | | | 1.34�-1012 bits – estimated capacity of the Polychaos dubium genome, the largest known genome | | | | | 1.6�-1012 bits (200 gigabytes) – capacity of a hard disk that would be considered average as of 2008[update] | 241 | | | | 2,199,023,255,552 bits (256 gibibytes) | 242 | | | | 4,398,046,511,104 bits (512 gibibytes) | 243 | tebibyte | | | 8,796,093,022,208 bits (1024 gibibytes) | | | | | (approximately) 8.97�-1012 bits – as of 2010[update], data of π to the largest number of decimal digits ever calculated (2.7�-1012) | | | 1013 | | 10,000,000,000,000 bits (1.25 terabytes) – capacity of a human being's functional memory, according to Raymond Kurzweil in The Singularity Is Near, p. 126 | 244 | | | | 17,592,186,044,416 bits (2 tebibytes) – capacity of a hard disk that would be considered average as of 2012[update] | 245 | | | | 35,184,372,088,832 bits (4 tebibytes) | 246 | | | | 70,368,744,177,664 bits (8 tebibytes) | | | 1014 | | 100,000,000,000,000 bits | 247 | | | | 140,737,488,355,328 bits (16 tebibytes) | | | | | 1.5�-1014 bits (18.75 terabytes) | 248 | | | | 281,474,976,710,656 bits (32 tebibytes) | 249 | | | | 562,949,953,421,312 bits (64 tebibytes) | | | 1015 | petabit | 1,000,000,000,000,000 bits | 250 | pebibit | | | 1,125,899,906,842,624 bits (128 tebibytes) | | | | | 2.4�-1015 bits (300 terabytes) – size of the Internet Archive as of 2004[update] | 251 | | | | 2,251,799,813,685,248 bits (256 tebibytes) | 252 | | | | 4,503,599,627,370,496 bits (512 tebibytes) | | | | | 8,000,000,000,000,000 bits (1015 bytes) – one petabyte | 253 | pebibyte | | | 9,007,199,254,740,992 bits (1024 tebibytes) | | | 1016 | | 10,000,000,000,000,000 bits | 254 | | | | 18,014,398,509,481,984 bits (2 pebibytes) | 255 | | | | 36,028,797,018,963,968 bits (4 pebibytes) – theoretical maximum of addressable physical memory in the AMD64 architecture[citation needed] | | | | | 4.5�-1016 bits (5.625 petabytes) – estimated hard drive space in Google's server farm as of 2004[update][citation needed] | 256 | | | | 72,057,594,037,927,936 bits (8 pebibytes) | | | | | 10 petabytes (1016 bytes) – estimated approximate size of the Library of Congress's collection, including non-book materials, as of 2005[3] | | | 1017 | | 100,000,000,000,000,000 bits | 257 | | | | 144,115,188,075,855,872 bits (16 pebibytes) | | | | | 2�-1017 bits (25 petabytes) – Storage space of Megaupload file-hosting service at the time it was shut down in 2012[4] | 258 | | | | 288,230,376,151,711,744 bits (32 pebibytes) | 259 | | | | 576,460,752,303,423,488 bits (64 pebibytes) | | | | | 8 �-1017, the storage capacity of the fictional Star Trek character Data | | | 1018 | exabit | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits | 260 | exbibit | | | 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bits (128 pebibytes) | | | | | 1.6�-1018 bits (200 petabytes) – total amount of printed material in the world[citation needed] | 261 | | | | 2,305,843,009,213,693,952 bits (256 pebibytes) | 262 | | | | 4,611,686,018,427,387,904 bits (512 pebibytes) | 263 | exbibyte | | | 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 bits (1024 pebibytes) | | | 1019 | | 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits | 264 | | | | 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bits (2 exbibytes) | 265 | | | | 36,893,488,147,419,103,232 bits (4 exbibytes) | | | | | 50,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits (50 exabit) | 266 | | | | 73,786,976,294,838,206,464 bits (8 exbibytes) | | | 1020 | | 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits | 267 | | | | 147,573,952,589,676,412,928 bits (16 exbibytes) – maximum addressable memory using 64-bit addresses without segmentation[citation needed] | 268 | | | | 295,147,905,179,352,825,856 bits (32 exbibytes) | | | | | 3.5 �- 1020 bits – increase in information capacity when 1 Joule of energy is added to a heat-bath at 300 K (27 °C)[5] | 269 | | | | 590,295,810,358,705,651,712 bits (64 exbibytes) | | | 1021 | zettabit | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits | 270 | zebibit | | | 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bits (128 exbibytes) | 271 | | | | 2,361,183,241,434,822,606,848 bits (256 exbibytes) | | | | | 3.4�-1021 bits (0.36 zettabytes) – amount of information that can be stored in 1 gram of DNA[6] | | | | | 4.7�-1021 bits (0.50 zettabytes) – amount of digitally stored information in the world as of May 2009[7] | 272 | | | | 4,722,366,482,869,645,213,696 bits (512 exbibytes) | 273 | zebibyte | | | 9,444,732,965,739,290,427,392 bits (1024 exbibytes) | | | 1022 | | 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bits | | | 1023 | | 1.0�-1023 bits – increase in information capacity when 1 Joule of energy is added to a heat-bath at 1 K (−272.15 °C)[8] | | | | | 6.0�-1023 bits – information content of 1 mole (12.01 g) of graphite at 25 °C; equivalent to an average of 0.996 bits per atom.[9] | | | 1024 | yottabit | 7.3�-1024 bits – information content of 1 mole (18.02 g) of liquid water at 25 °C; equivalent to an average of 12.14 bits per molecule.[10] | 280 | yobibit | | | 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bits (128 zebibytes) | | | 1025 | | 1.1�-1025 bits – entropy increase of 1 mole (18.02 g) of water, on vaporizing at 100 °C at standard pressure; equivalent to an average of 18.90 bits per molecule.[11] | | | | | 1.5�-1025 bits – information content of 1 mole (20.18 g) of neon gas at 25 °C and 1 atm; equivalent to an average of 25.39 bits per atom.[12] | 2 150 | | 1045 | | ~ 1045 bits – the number of bits required to perfectly recreate the average-sized U.S. adult male human being down to the quantum level on a computer is about 2�-1045 bits of information (see Bekenstein bound for the basis for this calculation). | | | 1058 | | ~ 1058 bits – thermodynamic entropy of the sun[13] (about 30 bits per proton, plus 10 bits per electron). | | | 1069 | | ~ 1069 bits – thermodynamic entropy of the Milky Way Galaxy (counting only the stars, not the black holes within the galaxy)[citation needed] | | | 1077 | | 1.5�-1077 bits – information content of a one-solar-mass black hole.[14] | 2305 | | 1092 | | The information capacity of the observable universe, according to Seth Lloyd.[15] | 2332.1928 | | 10100 | | googol number | 23.321928·googol | | 10googol | | googolplex number | For comparison, the Avogadro constant is 6.02214179(30)�-1023 entities per mole, based upon the number of atoms in 12 grams of carbon-12 isotope. See also References- ^ also spelled nybble
- ^ a b "A special report on managing information: All too much". The Economist. 25 February 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ Hickey, Thom (OCLC Chief Scientist) (21 June 2005). "Entire Library of Congress". Outgoing. http://outgoing.typepad.com/outgoing/ 2005/06/entire_library_.html. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ 25 petabyte on Megaupload. Retrieved 16 February 2012
- ^ J K−1
- ^ http://www.tmrfindia.org/ijcsa/V2I29. pdf
- ^ "Internet data heads for 500bn gigabytes", The Guardian, 18 May 2009. Retrieved on 23 April 2010.
- ^ 1 J K−1. Equivalent to 1/(k ln 2) bits, where k is Boltzmann's constant
- ^ Equivalent to 5.74 J K−1. Standard molar entropy of graphite.
- ^ Equivalent to 69.95 J K−1. Standard molar entropy of water.
- ^ Equivalent to 108.9 J K−1
- ^ Equivalent to 146.33 J K−1. Standard molar entropy of neon. An experimental value, see [1] for a theoretical calculation.
- ^ Given as 1042 erg K−1 in Bekenstein (1973), Black Holes and Entropy, Physical Review D 7 2338
- ^ Entropy = in nats, with for a Schwartzschild black hole. 1 nat = 1/ln(2) bits. See Jacob D. Bekenstein (2008), Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, Scholarpedia.
- ^ Seth Lloyd (2002), Computational capacity of the universe, Physical Review Letters 88 (23):237901.
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| Quantity | - acceleration
- angular velocity
- area
- capacitance
- charge
- computing
- currency
- current
- data
- density
- energy
- entropy
- force
- frequency
- length
- luminous flux
- magnetic field
- mass
- numbers
- power
- pressure
- radiation
- resistance
- sound pressure
- specific energy density
- specific heat capacity
- speed
- temperature
- time
- voltage
- volume
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| See also | - Back-of-the-envelope calculation
- Fermi problem
- Powers of 10
- SI prefix
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