Data units and storage capacity calculations

Overview

Bits, nibbles and bytes, units from kilobyte to petabyte, converting between them, fixed capacities, and worked storage calculations including text file sizes.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Why must data be converted into binary before a computer can process it?

   Model answer

   A computer is built from billions of transistors, which are switches with only two states. The two states represent 1 and 0, so text, images and sound must be stored as binary.

2. 2

   What is a bit?

   Model answer

   A bit is a single binary digit, which is either 0 or 1. A bit is the smallest unit of data.

3. 3

   What is a nibble?

   Model answer

   A nibble is a group of 4 bits. A nibble is half a byte and matches exactly one hexadecimal digit.

4. 4

   Define the term byte.

   Model answer

   A byte is a group of 8 bits. One byte can store one character of ASCII text.

5. 5

   List the units from kilobyte to petabyte, with the size of each.

   Model answer

   A kilobyte is 1,000 bytes and a megabyte is 1,000 kilobytes. A gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes and a terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes. A petabyte is 1,000 terabytes.

6. 6

   Is a kilobyte 1,000 bytes or 1,024 bytes?

   Model answer

   A kilobyte is 1,000 bytes, using the standard metric prefix. A value of 1,024 bytes is also widely used and accepted, because 1,024 is 2¹⁰.

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