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Wize University Physics Textbook (Master) > Foundations / Introduction / Measurement

Estimation and Order of Magnitude

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Orders of Magnitude


To represent orders of magnitude, we can add prefixes to any unit to scale them to the settings of our measurements.

For example, 1000g=1×103g=1kg1000 g = 1 \times 10^3 g = 1kg . Or in your computer, you might have 512GB (gigabytes)=512,000MB (megabytes)=512,000,000,000B (bytes)=512×109B (bytes)512 GB \textrm{ (gigabytes)} = 512,000 MB \textrm{ (megabytes)} = 512,000,000,000 B \textrm{ (bytes)} = 512 \times 10^9 B \textrm{ (bytes)} of storage space. Plenty of space for cat pictures.

Hints for estimating within an order of magnitude:
1. Express the number you are using in scientific notation.
2. If the multiplier is < 3.2 (10\sqrt{10}), the order of magnitude of the number is the power of 10. If the multiplier is > than 3.2, the order of magnitude is the power of 10 plus 1.