EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The flaw, faced by computer programmers and users all over the world on January 1, 2000, is also known as the “millennium bug.” (The letter K, which stands for kilo (a unit of 1000), is commonly used to represent the number 1, 000. So, Y2K stands for Year 2000.)

Detailed explanation-2: -The term Year 2000 bug, also known as the millennium bug and abbreviated as Y2K, referred to potential computer problems which might have resulted when dates used in computer systems moved from the year 1999 to the year 2000.

Detailed explanation-3: -Background. Y2K is a numeronym and was the common abbreviation for the year 2000 software problem. The abbreviation combines the letter Y for “year", the number 2 and a capitalized version of k for the SI unit prefix kilo meaning 1000; hence, 2K signifies 2000.

Detailed explanation-4: -Another similar event took place at the Shika Nuclear Power Station, after a “Y2K glitch” caused some of the plant’s alarm systems to go offline. Worst of all, a computer at a government office that monitors the plant at all times went dead along with the alarm system.

Detailed explanation-5: -noun Informal. a bug that could cause computers or software to misinterpret a year after 1999 as having the first two digits 19 instead of 20, due to the coding of dates using only the last two digits of the four-digit year.