LR44 Battery - Equivalents, Cross Reference Charts and Replacements

SI Unit Prefixes: How Many Watts in Kilowatt?

Unit prefixes help dealing with very low and very large values of units - writing is easier and even the math is easier, at least up to the point.

When converting Watts in kilowatts and kilowatts in Watts, it is important to know that the prefix "kilo" means "one thousand of something". Similarly, there are other unit prefixes like mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, etc.

Published: March 11, 2023.

watts in kilowatts 1

SI Unit Prefix "Kilo"

 SI unit prefix "kilo" means "a thousand" - so, one kilowatt means one thousand watts:

1 kW = 1000 W

Similarly, one Watt is a one-thousandth of one kilowatt:

1 W = 0.001 kW

 The following comparison chart lists prefixes used in the International System of Units (SI):

Prefix Base 10 Decimal English Word
Name Symbol Short Scale Long Scale
yotta Y 1024 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 septillion quadrillion
zetta Z 1021 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 sextillion trilliard
exa E 1018 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 quintillion trillion
peta P 1015 1 000 000 000 000 000 quadrillion billiard
tera T 1012 1 000 000 000 000 trillion billion
giga G 109 1 000 000 000 billion milliard
mega M 106 1 000 000 million
kilo k 103 1 000 thousand
hecto h 102 100 hundred
deca da 101 10 ten
- - 100 1 one
deci d 10-1 0.1 tenth
centi c 10-2 0.01 hundredth
milli m 10-3 0.001 thousandth
micro μ 10-6 0.000 001 millionth
nano n 10-9 0.000 000 001 billionth milliardth
pico p 10-12 0.000 000 000 001 trillionth billionth
femto f 10-15 0.000 000 000 000 001 quadrillionth billiardth
atto a 10-18 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 quintillionth trillionth
zepto z 10-21 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 sextillionth trilliardth
yocto y 10-24 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 septillionth quadrillionth

Note: 'Short Scale' is in use in, for example, the United States, while 'Long Scale' is in use in, for example, Europe.

 SI prefixes range from yocto (y, 10-24) to yotta (Y, 1024) and significantly help when numbers/values are multiplied due to the simple rule in math (parentheses are added to make things more clear an easier to understand):

(A * 10x) * (B *10y) = (A+B) * 10(x+y)

For example:

200 * 3000 = (2 * 100) * (3 * 1000) = (2 * 102) * (3 * 103) = (2 * 3) * 10(2+3) = 6 * 105 = 600000


Long Story Short: If You have a value of, for example, 15400 Watts, that is 15.4 kW:

15400 Watts = 15400/1000 kW = 15.4 kW

And the math is very similar when other prefixes from the SI system of units are used.

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