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Millions and Billions and More (Oh My!)

We sometimes describe 1,100 as eleven hundred instead of one thousand, one hundred because it is easier to say. Just as 800 is 8x100, 1,100 is 11x100.

A million is a thousand, thousand or 1000x1000. A billion is a thousand million and a trillion is a thousand billion.

Scientists tell us the earth is 4.6 billion years old. That means it is 4,600,000,000 years old. We can also say that the earth is 4,600 million years old. If you wanted to count to 4.6 billion and each number took you one second to recite, you would be busy for 145.76 years, not including bathroom breaks.
Here are some really large numbers:
thousand 10^3 or 1,000
million 10^6 or 1,000,000
billion 10^9 or 1,000,000,000
trillion 10^12 or 1,000,000,000,000
quadrillion 10^15 or 1,000,000,000,000,000
quintillion 10^18 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
sextillion 10^21 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
septillion 10^24 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
octillion 10^27 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
nontillion 10^30 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
decillion 10^33 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
undecillion 10^36 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
duodecillion 10^39 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
tredecillion 0^42 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
quattuordecillion 0^45 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
quidecillion 0^48 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000000,,000
sexdecillion 0^51 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
septendecillion 0^54 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
octadecillion 0^57 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
novemdecillion 0^60 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
vigintillion 0^63 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

To cite this page:
Dowling, Mike, "Really Big Numbers at mrdowling.com," available from http://www.mrdowling.com/602-billions.html; Internet; updated Saturday, October 23, 2004 . ©2008, Mike Dowling. All rights reserved.