Mega

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For other meanings, see Mega (disambiguation)

mega- (symbol M) is an SI prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10⁶, 1,000,000 (one million).

For example, 1 MW (megawatt) = 1,000,000 watts = 1,000 kilowatts.

Confirmed in 1960, it comes from the Greek μέγας, meaning great.^{[citation needed]} It is cognate with the Sanskrit word maha, meaning "great".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 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 television broadcasting, GSM, etc. 1 MHz = 1,000,000 Hz

[edit] 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.

[edit] See also

• SI prefix
• Binary prefix
• Mebibyte

[edit] External links

• BIPM website