2006-06-27 19:29:14 · 6 answers · asked by St. Dave 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
It's the incorrect way to say Gigawatt. One billion watts.
Of course, it's also a one-liner from Back to the Future....
2006-06-27 19:32:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Actually, the correct spelling is Gigawatt, and its pronounciation is with the "g" sound (like guess or gizmo), not "j". It was misprounounced in the movie Back to the Future. Giga, meaning billion, is the next order of magnituge following Mega, or million, right after Kilo, or thousand. So, Giga can be applied as an order of magnitude for most any measurement. For example, radio waves might be kilohertz frequency, or like Megahertz as in FM radio, or television, or Gigahertz for microwave and satellite transmissions. Of course, it could also be kilograms, megagrams, or gigagrams. A gigagram would be one heavy load. If you think that's big, check out Terrawatt, or Terrahertz.
1 hertz = 1 cycle per second
1 kilohertz = 1000 cycles per second
1 megahertz = 1000000 cycles per second
1 gigahertz = 1000000000 cycles per second
and so on...
On the other end, working downward in order of magnitude, it would go: milli, micro, nano, pico, atto, femto, etc. For example:
1 millisecond = .001 seconds
1 microsecond = .000001 seconds
1 nonsecond = .000000001 seconds
1 picosecond = .000000000001 seconds
Well, you get the idea, you add the zeros.
2006-06-28 03:12:30 · answer #2 · answered by laseranimation2004 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a jigawatt is a white guy who pretends to be a watt.
2006-06-29 01:23:26 · answer #3 · answered by evildietrich@verizon.net 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gigawatt--1 billion watts
Jigawatt is the phonetic preferred pronunciation (soft G, like "gerbil").
2006-06-28 02:32:24 · answer #4 · answered by m137pay 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know, but Doc from back to the future sure had that one nailed down.
2006-06-28 02:33:01 · answer #5 · answered by stinkybeardedclams 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
thats a gigawatt lol
2006-06-28 02:34:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋