Units of Data

From Bits to Petabytes: Understanding data capacity sizes.

The Data Hierarchy

Exam Rule: Kilo = 1000. (Not 1024!)

Bit

A single Switch (1 or 0)

Nibble

4 Bits (Half a Byte)

Byte

8 Bits (1 Character of text)

Kilobyte

1000 Bytes (A short Email)

Megabyte

1000 KB (A 3-minute MP3 Song)

Gigabyte

1000 MB (A High Definition Movie)

Terabyte

1000 GB (All the photos you'll ever take)

Petabyte

1000 TB (Google's Server Farm)

Unit Converter

Value

From

Result 0 GB

File Capacity

Calculate how many files fit on a storage device.

Storage Device Size

Single File Size

You can fit approximately 0 files

Balance the Scales

Master unit conversions in Data Scales. Can you make 1000MB equal 1GB?

Play Data Scales

Check Your Understanding

1. How many Bits are there in exactly one Nibble?

2. To convert from Megabytes (MB) to Kilobytes (KB), what arithmetic must you do?

3. Approximately how much data is held in 1 Terabyte (TB)?

Numerical Exam Scenario (AO2)

Stretch (Grade 9)

1 / 3

"A photographer has a 4GB SD Card. They take high-resolution photos that are exactly 8MB each en route to an event. Calculate the maximum number of photos the SD Card can hold." (3 marks)