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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".
There are gram calories and kilogram calories. One kilogram calorie, which equals one thousand gram calories, often appears capitalised and without a prefix (i.e. Cal) when referring to "dietary calories" in food. [17] It is common to apply metric prefixes to the gram calorie, but not to the kilogram calorie: thus, 1 kcal = 1000 cal = 1 Cal.
The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo-(meaning one thousand) and gram; [2] it is colloquially shortened to "kilo" (plural "kilos"). [ 3 ] The kilogram is an SI base unit , defined ultimately in terms of three defining constants of the SI, namely a specific transition frequency of the caesium-133 atom, the ...
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 SI prefix for a thousand units is "kilo-", abbreviated to "k"—for instance, a kilogram or "kg" is a thousand grams. This is sometimes extended to non-SI contexts, such as "ka" being used as a shorthand for periods of 1000 years. In computer science, however, "kilo-" is used more loosely to mean 2 to the 10th power (1024).
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.
In the International System of Units (SI) the metric prefix kilo means 1,000 (10 3); therefore, one kilobyte is 1000 bytes. The unit symbol is kB. This is the definition recommended by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). [2]
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 ...