EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -A kilobyte is approximately 1, 000 bytes (specifically, 2 to the 10th power or, in decimal form, 1, 024 bytes).

Detailed explanation-2: -Traditionally, 1 kilobyte is used to express 1024 bytes (210 B). The concept of metric kilos is used here because 1024 is close to 1000 for convenience. Today, this notation format is used in many places.

Detailed explanation-3: -A kilobyte (KB) is 1, 024 bytes, not one thousand bytes as might be expected, because computers use binary (base two) math, instead of a decimal (base ten) system. Computer storage and memory is often measured in megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB).

Detailed explanation-4: -As the numbers get bigger we start to abbreviate them with k (kilo), m (mega), g (giga), t (tera). The closest base number to a thousand (kilo) is 1024, hence it was abbreviated to k, so 1024 bytes = 1kb.

Detailed explanation-5: -The debate over how many bits are in a kilobit has popped up many places (including in our comments section today), with some people championing 1, 000 and others 1, 024. So what’s the answer? Well, today, the answer is that a kilobit is 1, 000 bits.