Syllabus Detail
- Storage capacities including; bit, byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, terabyte. 11 ATAR, 12 GEN
Background
- Storage is the holding of data that can be retrieved for future use
- Capacity is the maximum amount that something can hold
- Storage capacity in terms of computing is the maximum amount of data that can be held and retrieved
- A bit is the basic unit of information for computer systems and can only have one of two values (commonly represented as a 1 or a 0)
- Bit is shorthand for binary digit
Common references of storage
- A bit = the basic unit (can contain only one of two values)
- A byte = made up of 8 bits
- A kilobyte [kb] = made up of 1024 bytes (generally referenced as 1000 bytes, hence kilo)
- A megabyte [mb] = made up of 1024 kilobytes (generally referenced as 1000 kilobytes, hence mega)
- A gigabyte [gb] = made up of 1024 megabytes (generally referenced as 1000 megabytes, hence giga)
- A terabyte [tb] = made up of 1024 gigabytes (generally referenced as 1000 gigabytes, hence tera)
The Quirks
- Although commonly referenced in terms of thousands, you'll notice they end in multiples of two
- This is because memory is measured in terms of base two
- Hence,
- 2 ^ 1 = 2
- 2 ^ 2 = 4
- 2 ^ 3 = 8
- ...
- 2 ^ 10 = 1024
Further Research
- 'Bits and Bytes' explanation by Stanford here
- 'Bits vs Bytes' explanation by New Jersey Institute of Technology here
Worksheet and Practice (yet to be added)
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