ITPEC IP October 2018 Question 10

1 KB < 1 MB < 1 GB < 1 TB — the prefixes kilo, mega, giga and tera each stand for 1,000 times the one before.

• •1 KB = 10³ bytes (kilo, a thousand)
• •1 MB = 10⁶ bytes (mega, a million)
• •1 GB = 10⁹ bytes (giga, a billion)
• •1 TB = 10¹² bytes (tera, a trillion)

In the binary convention each step is 2¹⁰ = 1,024 instead of 1,000, which does not change the order.

Answer (a)

Why not others:

• •(b) — places TB below GB, though tera is 1,000 times giga
• •(c) — places TB right after KB, below MB and GB
• •(d) — places TB lowest of all, though it is the largest unit listed

Key rule: The prefixes run k (10³), M (10⁶), G (10⁹), T (10¹²), P (10¹⁵), each 1,000 times the previous; below 1 they run m, μ, n, p.

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