Shannon (unit)
The shannon (symbol Sh), also known as a bit, is a unit of information and of entropy defined by IEC 80000-13. One shannon is the information content of an event when the probability of that event occurring is one half.[1] It is also the entropy of a system with two equiprobable states. If a message is made of a sequence of bits, with all possible bit strings equally likely, the message's information content expressed in shannons is equal to the number of bits in the sequence.[2] For this and historical reasons, a shannon is more commonly known as a bit, despite that "bit" is also used as a unit of data (or of computer storage, equal to 1/8 of a byte).[3]
The shannon is named after Claude Shannon.
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "shannon", A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
- ↑ "bit", A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This standards- or measurement-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This computer science article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
