SI and binary prefixes: Clearing the confusion
| dc.contributor.author | Temiz, Hakan | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-07-17T12:46:21Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-07-17T12:46:21Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.department | AÇÜ, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Bilgisayar Mühendisliği Bölümü | |
| dc.description.abstract | THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM of Units (SI), organized by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), defines several prefixes to denote the quantities between 10–24 and 10+24, given in Table 1. It allows expression of very large or small quantities of all units of measurement in common scientific notation accepted by the international community. For example, the prefixes kilo (k), mega (M), giga (G), and tera (T) indicate 103n, for n= 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. However, when expressing data quantities and memory addresses, SI prefixes (SIPs) are misused to indicate binary multiples. In this non-standard adoption, for a number n, where n=1, 2, …, and 8, each prefix specifies 210n instead of their original values (103n). Almost everyone, including scientists and engineers, thinks that this non-standard acceptance is correct. On the other hand, the prefixes for binary multiples were already defined by the relevant standards approximately 23 years ago. This nonstandard notation confuses at the very least or can cause rather serious problems. Hence, all parties should immediately abandon this misconception and disseminate the correct information to everyone. | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.1145/3572027 | |
| dc.identifier.endpage | 31 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 00010782 | |
| dc.identifier.issue | 8 | |
| dc.identifier.scopus | s2.0-85166183572 | |
| dc.identifier.scopusquality | Q1 | |
| dc.identifier.startpage | 29 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/11494/5819 | |
| dc.identifier.volume | 66 | |
| dc.indekslendigikaynak | Scopus | |
| dc.institutionauthor | Temiz, Hakan | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Association for Computing Machinery | |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Communications of the ACM | |
| dc.relation.publicationcategory | Diğer | |
| dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess | |
| dc.title | SI and binary prefixes: Clearing the confusion | |
| dc.type | Other |
