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What is a...

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Definition:

A gigabyte is a unit of measure equal to 1,073,741,824 bytes, which is about one billion bytes.

Explanation:

"Giga" means "billion." Measuring the number of gigabytes tells you how big your hard drive is, by counting billions of bytes.

Sentence:

"The size of my new hard drive is 200 gigabytes."

 

Notes: Gigabyte is abbreviated as "GB."

A gigabyte is the same as a thousand megabytes.

When we talk about a gigabyte, we usually refer to it as a billion bytes. However, keep in mind that computers use the binary system (not the decimal system) to work with data. Therefore, a gigabyte really refers to 2 to the power of 30 bytes, which is 1,073,741,824 bytes. (Remember, 2 to the power of 30 is the same as 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2, which equals 1,073,741,824.)

 

Find out More!

• See The Numbers here on TekMom's site.
  
  
• Go to "gigabyte" in TechWeb's TechEncyclopedia.