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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".
Except for the early prefixes of kilo-, hecto-, and deca-, the symbols for the prefixes for multiples are uppercase letters, and those for the prefixes for submultiples are lowercase letters. [8] All of the metric prefix symbols are made from upper- and lower-case Latin letters except for the symbol for micro, which is uniquely a Greek letter ...
A unit prefix is a specifier or mnemonic that is added to the beginning of a unit of measurement to indicate multiples or fractions of the units. Units of various sizes are commonly formed by the use of such prefixes. The prefixes of the metric system, such as kilo and milli, represent multiplication by positive or negative powers of ten.
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]
Here the metric prefix 'kilo-' (symbol 'k') stands for a factor of 1000; thus, 1 km = 1000 m. The SI provides twenty-four metric prefixes that signify decimal powers ranging from 10 −30 to 10 30, the most recent being adopted in 2022.
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.
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 ...
Similarly, some are only derived from words for numbers inasmuch as they are word play. (Peta-is word play on penta-, for example. See its etymology for details.) The root language of a numerical prefix need not be related to the root language of the word that it prefixes. Some words comprising numerical prefixes are hybrid words.