Exa Greek hex = six, sixth prefix, Hexa - H = exa
Remember, in standard French, the initial H is silent, so they would
pronounce Hexa as Exa. It is far easier to call it Exa for everyone's
sake, right?
Zetta almost homonymic with Greek Zeta, but last letter of
the Latin alphabet
Yotta almost homonymic with Greek iota, but penultimate
letter of the Latin alphabet
The first prefix is number-derived; second, third,
and fourth are based on mythology. Fifth and sixth are supposed to be
just that: fifth and sixth. But, with the seventh, another fork has
been taken. The General Conference of Weights and Measures (CGMP, from
the French; they have been headquartered, since 1874, in Sevres on the
outskirts of Paris) has now decided to name the prefixes, starting with
the seventh, with the letters of the Latin alphabet, but starting from
the end. Now, that makes it all clear! Remember, both according to CGMP
and SI, the prefixes refer to powers of 10. Mega is 10**6, exactly
1,000,000, kilo is exactly 1000, not 1024.
My Sources / Mine kilder
Sources: Various books, the Internet,
and various encyclopedias.
Kilder: Forskellige bøger,
internettet og forskellige leksikoner.
Computer Data Representation and Number Systems / Computer data repræsentation og talsystemer
