How much is 1 byte, kilobyte, megabyte, Gigabyte, etc.?

Memory is a storage device that stores data for a long or short period. The main categories of memory are temporary (volatile) and permanent (non-volatile). Byte, kilobyte, megabyte, and Gigabyte are all measures of memory.

Temporary memory is where the contents stored in it will be lost when we switch off the device. At the same time, the non-volatile memory does not lose the data even when the power is turned off.

Here one important thing we should remember about the representation of memory is that only sometimes is the memory written in binary. The memory manufacturers represent the size using common names. For example, the memory capability in the mega bite means 1,000,000 bytes but not mebibyte (1,048,576 bytes). In the following discussion, we will use common names while representing the memory capabilities and values in binary (base 2).

Bit

The bit is the most basic measure of data. A bit is represented in a single binary digit, either by 0 or 1. A bit is represented by a small "b". When the bit value is 0, it(power) is in the off state; if it is 1 then the memory or power is in the on state.

Nibble

4 bits together makes one nibble. The nibble is a measurement of memory.

Byte

A byte is a memory unit that is larger than a bit. Eight consecutive bits make a byte. The byte is represented by using "B". A single character like an alphabet, number, or symbol makes 1 byte.

For example, "z" or "1" or "$" is one byte.

Kilobyte

One kilobyte is a thousand bytes in technical terms. Kilobyte is abbreviated as "KB". The kilobyte and kibibyte are often used as the same value, but the kibibyte is a memory measurement with 1024 bytes represented in binary, which is 2¹⁰.

A kilobyte is also a small memory unit used to measure small files.

For example, a simple text document containing two or three paragraphs represents a Kilobyte.

Megabyte

Megabyte is represented by "MB". One megabyte is a thousand kilobytes. The megabyte and mebibyte are often used as the same value, but the mebibyte is a memory measurement with 1,048,576 bytes, which, when represented in binary, is 2²⁰.

• How many megabits are there in a megabyte

Megabyte is used for measuring large files.

For example

• A plain text document containing 873 pages makes one MB.
• Four books that are 200 pages or 240,000 characters make one MB.

Gigabyte

Gigabyte is represented by "GB". One Gigabyte is a thousand megabytes. The Gigabyte and gibibyte are often used as the same value, but the gibibyte is a memory measurement with 1,073,741,824 bytes, which, when represented in binary, is 2³⁰.

The capacity of storage devices is measured in GB.

For example,

• A plain text document containing 894,784 pages makes 1GB.
• Four thousand four hundred seventy-three (4,473) books make 1GB.
• Six hundred forty (640) web pages make 1GB.
• Three hundred forty-one digital (341) pictures make 1GB.
• 256 MP3 audio files make 1 GB.
• One 650 MB CD makes 1GB.

Terabyte

A terabyte is represented by "TB". One Terabyte is a thousand gigabytes. The Terabyte and tebibyte are often used as the same value, but the tebibyte is a memory measurement with 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, which, when represented in binary, is 2⁴⁰.

The terabytes measure the capacity of hard drives and other secondary storage devices in computers and laptops.

For example,

• A plain text document containing 916,259,689 pages makes 1TB.
• 4,581,298 books make 1TB.
• Six hundred fifty-five thousand three hundred sixty (655,360) web pages make 1TB.
• Three hundred forty-nine thousand five hundred twenty-five (349,525) electronic images make 1TB.
• 262,144 MP3 audio files make 1 TB.
• 1,613 650 MB CD makes 1TB.
• 23338 GB DVDs make 1TB.
• 40 25 GB Blu-ray discs make 1TB.

Petabyte

A petabyte is represented by "PB". One Petabyte is a thousand terabytes. The Petabyte and pebibyte are often used as the same value, but the pebibyte is a memory measurement with 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes, which, when represented in binary, is 2⁵⁰.

The petabytes are used to measure the storage capacity of the whole network.

For example,

• A plain text document containing 938,249,922,368 pages make 1PB.
• 4,691,249,611 books make 1PB.
• Six hundred seventy-one million eighty-eight thousand six hundred forty (671,088,640) web pages make 1PB.
• Three hundred fifty-seven million nine hundred thirteen thousand nine hundred forty-one (357,913,941) electronic images make 1PB.
• 268,435,456 MP3 audio files make 1 PB.
• 1,651,910 650 MB CD makes 1PB.
• 233 4.38 38 GB DVDs make 1PB.
• 41,943 25 GB Blu-ray discs make 1PB.

Exabyte

One Exabyte is a thousand petabytes. Exabyte is represented by "EB". The Exabyte and exbibyte are often used as the same value, but the exbibyte is a memory measurement with 1,152,921,504,606,846,976bytes, which, when represented in binary, is 2⁶⁰.

The Exabyte is seldom used to measure the memory as the largest network memory is also measured in petabytes. The exabytes are used to measure the memory of a combination of many networks.

For example,

• A plain text document containing 960,767,920,505,705 pages makes 1EB.
• 4,803,839,602,528 books make 1EB.
• 687,194,767,360 web pages make 1EB.
• 366,503,875,925 digital pictures make 1EB.
• 274,877,906,944 MP3 audio files make 1 EB.
• 1,691,556,350 650 MB CD makes 1EB.
• 225,146,535 38 GB DVDs make 1EB.
• 42,949,672 25 GB Blu-ray discs make 1EB.

Zettabyte

One Exabyte is a thousand exabytes. A zettabyte is represented by "ZB". The zettabyte and zebibyte are often used as the same value, but the zebibyte is a memory measurement with 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424, which, when represented in binary, is 2⁷⁰. The ZB is not generally used in scientific research. The ZB is used to calculate the large memory.

For example,

• A plain text document containing 983,826,350,597,842,752 pages makes 1ZB.
• 4,919,131,752,989,213 books makes 1ZB.
• 703,687,443,750,000 web pages make 1ZB.
• 375,299,970,000,000 digital pictures make 1ZB.
• 281,474,977,500,000 MP3 audio files make 1 ZB.
• 1,732,153,707,691 650 MB CD makes 1ZB.
• 251,030,052,003 38 GB DVDs make 1ZB.
• 43,980,465,111 25 GB Blu-ray discs make 1ZB.

Yottabyte

One yottabyte is a thousand zettabytes. A zettabyte is represented by "YB". The yottabyte and yobibyte are often used as the same value, but the yobibyte is a memory measurement with 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes which, when represented in binary, is 2⁸⁰.

For example,

• A plain text document containing 1,007,438,183,012,190,978,921pages makes 1YB.
• 5,037,190,915,060,954,894 makes 1YB.
• 720,575,937,500,000,000 pages makes 1YB.
• 384,307,166,666,666,666 pictures makes 1YB.
• 288,230,375,000,000,000 MP3 audio files makes 1YB.
• 1,773,725,384,615,384 650 MB CD makes 1YB
• 257,054,773,251,740 38 GB DVDs make 1YB.
• 45,035,996,273,704 25 GB Blu-ray discs make 1YB.

Is any memory measurement value bigger than yottabyte?

Up to 2020, the yottabyte is the biggest memory measurement value. Although there are two values, "hellabyte" or "brontobyte," proposed, which are bigger than yottabyte.

Table representing the several Memory capacities and their relation.

Calculating the above values using the below values

First, know about the size of each memory type when we consider the Terabyte, 1 TB = 1024 GB. So, to know the number of 16 MB MP3 files in Terabyte, take (1,024*1,024) / 16. Then we get 77,056 16 MB MP3 files.