Deep Dive: Why 1024 Instead of 1000?
Part of Storage Units — GCSE Computer Science
This deep dive covers Deep Dive: Why 1024 Instead of 1000? within Storage Units for GCSE Computer Science. Revise Storage Units in Memory & Storage for GCSE Computer Science with 15 exam-style questions and 18 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 2 of 9 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 2 of 9
Practice
15 questions
Recall
18 flashcards
Deep Dive: Why 1024 Instead of 1000?
Computers work in binary (base 2), so everything is powers of 2. The closest power of 2 to 1,000 is 210 = 1,024. This creates an interesting situation:
- Binary system (IEC standard): 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes (used by programmers, RAM specs)
- Decimal system (SI standard): 1 KB = 1,000 bytes (used by hard drive manufacturers, marketing)
This is why your "1 TB" hard drive shows as only 931 GB in Windows - the manufacturer used decimal (1,000^4 bytes) but Windows uses binary (1,024^4 bytes). You didn't lose 69 GB - it's just a measurement difference!