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Kilo is a decimal unit prefix in the metric system denoting multiplication by one thousand (10 3). It is used in the International System of Units , where it has the symbol k , in lowercase . The prefix kilo is derived from the Greek word χίλιοι ( chilioi ), meaning "thousand".
Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol. The prefix kilo-, for example, may be added to gram to indicate multiplication by one thousand: one kilogram is equal to one thousand grams. The prefix milli-, likewise, may be added to metre to indicate division by one thousand; one millimetre is equal to one thousandth of a ...
The tenth power of 2 (2 10) has the value 1024, which is close to 1000. This has prompted the use of the metric prefixes kilo, mega, and giga to also denote the powers of 1024 which is common in information technology with the unit of digital information, the byte. Units of information are not covered in the International System of Units.
The prefix kilo, for example, implies a factor of 1000 (10 3), and the prefix milli implies a factor of 1/1000 (10-3). Thus, a kilometre is a thousand metres, and a milligram is one thousandth of a gram. These relations can be written symbolically as: [4]
The kilogram is the only standard unit to include an SI prefix (kilo-) as part of its name. The gram (10 −3 kg) is an SI derived unit of mass. However, the names of all SI mass units are based on gram, rather than on kilogram; thus 10 3 kg is a megagram (10 6 g), not a *kilokilogram.
The kilogram is the only base SI unit with an SI prefix (kilo) as part of its name. The word kilogramme or kilogram is derived from the French kilogramme, [15] which itself was a learned coinage, prefixing the Greek stem of χίλιοι khilioi "a thousand" to gramma, a Late Latin term for "a small weight", itself from Greek γράμμα. [16]
The prefixes are never combined, so for example a millionth of a metre is a micrometre, not a millimillimetre. Multiples of the kilogram are named as if the gram were the base unit, so a millionth of a kilogram is a milligram, not a microkilogram. [5]: 122 [11]: 14 The BIPM specifies 24 prefixes for the International System of Units (SI):
Commonly, a decimal SI metric prefix (such as kilo-) is used with bit and byte to express larger sizes (kilobit, kilobyte). But, this is usually inaccurate since these prefixes are decimal, whereas binary hardware size is usually binary. Customarily, each metric prefix, 1000 n, is used to mean a close approximation of a binary multiple, 1024 n ...