Computing, radio, and electronics all have one key similarity between them, despite being somewhat disparate fields. The humble hertz is a measurement ubiquitous to all fields of science. For such a common measurement, how do the larger units work? Those familiar with computing are no doubt aware of kilohertz, megahertz, and gigahertz.
Let’s take a closer look at the history of the measurement unit itself, its common applications, and the actual difference between megahertz and kilohertz.
A Brief History of the Hertz
Heinrich Hertz, a German physicist, serves as the namesake for the measurement. Hertz himself was a pioneer of early electric research and made numerous important contributions to the study of electromagnetism.
The year 1930 saw the standardization of the hertz as a unit of measurement by the International Electrotechnical Commission. It has since served as a basis for measurement, from the clock speed of a computer’s central processor to the frequency of musical instruments in an orchestra.
What Is a Hertz?
Simply put, a hertz is a single occurrence of an event over a second. A single instance is also commonly referred to as a cycle. For the layperson, a hertz is just that tiny event happening however many times a second. Let’s take a look at the refresh rate of your television, which is measured in hertz.
From this, one can look at a common refresh rate, like 60 hertz. It can be inferred that the screen refreshes 60 times every single second that passes. This, likewise, applies to higher refresh rates, with 240 hertz being 240 refreshes a second.
Hertz doesn’t have a hard set unit that it is measuring. This is a given since it can apply to the electrical mains in your house in addition to the tuning of something like a violin. But, rather, it is a means of having a standard to record events over a single second.
Hertz is a bit unusual as a measurement, given that it can be applied to so many things. It isn’t too hard to grasp if you understand the context of whatever you’re measuring.
Megahertz vs Kilohertz: Side-by-Side Comparison
Feature | Megahertz | Kilohertz |
---|---|---|
How many hertz per measurement | 1,000,000 | 1,000 |
Unit below | Kilohertz | Hectohertz |
Unit above | Gigahertz | Megahertz |
Commonly used to measure | Wireless transmitters, computer processors, data buses | Audio, wireless transmitters, alternating currents |
Megahertz vs Kilohertz: What’s the Difference?
A key thing to note when looking at these two units of measurement is that they are directly related. 1,000 kHz are present in 1 MHz. The only real key difference to note between the two is how they may apply to what you’re measuring.
A single kilohertz is 1,000 hertz, similar to the metric system’s naming convention. A megahertz is, likewise, 1,000,000 hertz, keeping with the same convention.
Where the difference arises is that, in their basic form, they are a single unit of measurement, with one being larger than the other. They both still have a single hertz as the basic unit they relate to.
There isn’t a key difference in how you might use them. For some disciplines, tens of kilohertz may be the absolute apex of measurement. For others, you might see the baseline be a few hundred megahertz. Instead, what to keep in mind is not which one of these is best for your uses, but rather which one fits its particular context.
Megahertz vs Kilohertz: Common Uses
Both units of measurement are present in common devices you use daily. If your car has an equalizer for the sound system, it uses kilohertz as the top measurement. This is fairly common in professional audio and audio processing in general.
The system of measurement relates to the frequency by which an audio wave oscillates, or moves. The higher end of the frequency spectrum for human hearing is around 22 kHz, which is the absolute maximum you’ll see on most equalizers.
You can also kilohertz in basic computing, with some of the lesser components that aren’t the central processor being measured in kilohertz. It isn’t as common these days, but you could fully expect this to be the case for the CPU cache in the 1980s and 1990s, for example.
Speaking of computing, you’ll see megahertz tossed around regarding certain components, as well. This is especially evident with older components, like vintage CPUs.
Processors in the gigahertz are a fairly common occurrence these days, but during the heyday of IBM’s run as a hardware manufacturer, you could count the cycles in megahertz. Concerning computing, hertz refers to how many calculations are processed per second.
With an older CPU, say a 700MHz Pentium 3, this means the CPU is performing calculations 700,000,000 times a second.
Megahertz vs Kilohertz: Where to Use
Choosing which of these units of measurement to use will depend entirely on the context of what you’re measuring. An audio engineer working the front of the house for a live show will likely get measurements up until the lower end of kilohertz. More commonly, however, they’ll be working hertz for the lower frequencies audible to human ears.
If you work with wireless transmitters, the baseline unit for measurement of the oscillation of the radio waves might just start in the megahertz range. This is especially true for lower-frequency radio transmitters, like AM radios.
The range at which they broadcast directly correlates to the frequency being emitted from the transmitter. This is also seen with wireless transmitters for things like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The frequency bands in use more commonly employ gigahertz, but you could just as easily depict 2.4 GHz as 2400 MHz, depending on the specifications.
Megahertz vs Kilohertz: Which One Is Better? Which One Should You Choose?
There isn’t a better or worse choice when it comes to units of measurement. Sure, megahertz might not be applicable for those working in professional audio. Likewise, kilohertz might not be suitable for those working with devices utilizing alternating current (AC).
What to keep in mind is where these units work for their use case, rather than which one is better or worse. As it sits, you should choose what works best in the moment. Writing 1,000 kHz might be a bit messier than just simply putting down 1 MHz, after all.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©JLStock/Shutterstock.com.