Units of measure have been around for a long time because they make it much easier to compare similar items.
The list of systems and units used to measure different elements is endless. There are different units of measurement that refer to distances, weights, clothing, paper measurements, memory capacity of electronic devices, and many more.
The fact that there are so many of them sometimes makes it difficult to remember how they relate to each other and how they compare.
For example, in the case of the memory capacity of electronic devices, a question may arise: Is a kB or a MB bigger?
For some people this question does not make any sense since we have seen the memory of devices grow from the 720 kB Sony floppy disks that appeared more than 40 years ago to the present day where there are hard disks of several Terabytes.
Although we will go into more detail below, to save you from reading on, and answer your question:
Is kB bigger than MB?
A kB is smaller than a MB, specifically a Mega (MB) is 1024 Kilobytes (kB) using the Binary system.
If you use the Decimal base system, then 1MB is 1000 kB.
Which is the relationship between a kB and a Mega?
In computing and in the digital world there is a number that stands out above the rest and this is the number 2.
Digitization is based on a binary system (two options, zeros and ones) so any unit of digital measurement will always be based on the number 2.
A kB and a MB are two consecutive units of measurement when measuring memory capacity, so 1 Megabyte is 210 Kilobytes.
How many bytes is a kB
A Kilobyte (kB) is equivalent to 1024 bytes (210 bytes) when they Binary system is used or 1.000 bytes (103 bytes) using the Decimal system.
How many bytes is a MB
A Megabyte (MB) is equivalent to 1,048,576 bytes (220 bytes) using the Binary system or 1.000.000 bytes (106 bytes) if the system used is the Decimal one.
Digital Information Units comparison table. Where is the kB and MB in the table?
| Byte | Kilobyte | Megabyte | Gigabyte | Terabyte |
| 1024 bytes | 1024 kB | 1024 MB | 1024 GB | |
| 20 bytes | 210 bytes | 220 bytes | 230 bytes | 240 bytes |
| 100 bytes | 103 bytes | 106 bytes | 109 bytes | 1012 bytes |
What is bigger, kB or MB?
As we have seen, a Kilobyte (kB) is smaller than a Megabyte (MB). A Megabyte is the second unit of measurement above the minimum memory unit used to measure memory capacity of electronic devices which is the byte and in the case of the Kilobyte is the first and therefore smaller.
Other digital information Units comparisons
Photo by cottonbro
