What is Mega?

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What is Mega?
Technically, mega is a prefix used to denote a quantity amounting to one million or 10 to the 6th power. This prefix belongs to the category called prefix multipliers, which also includes ‘kilo’ (one thousand), ‘giga’ (one billion), ‘tera’ (one trillion).

Mega can often be heard being used in mathematical terms, scientific terms or computing terms. ‘Megaton’ means the energy released when one million tons of TNT is ignite. ‘Megapixel’ means 1 million pixels (usually used in digital cameras and in LCD monitors). In binary systems however, there is a slight change, as mega- in this sense means 2 to the 20th power or 1,048,576 bytes.

Mega can also mean to connote something large or grand, or something that is beyond the ordinary. You can oftentimes the words ‘megadose’ or an exceptionally big dose of something, usually medicine or vitamins; ‘megahit’ a song that is topping the records charts in unexpected levels; ‘megalosaurus’ a large dinosaur from the Jurassic period; and even ‘megaphone’ a device used to magnify sound multiple times.

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