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Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or 10 9 (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of English; it has long been established in American English and has since become common in Britain ...
Extensions of the standard dictionary numbers. This section illustrates several systems for naming large numbers, and shows how they can be extended past vigintillion. Traditional British usage assigned new names for each power of one million (the long scale): 1,000,000 = 1 million; 1,000,0002 = 1 billion; 1,000,0003 = 1 trillion; and so on.
One billion years may be called an eon in astronomy or geology. Previously in British English (but not in American English), the word "billion" referred exclusively to a million millions (1,000,000,000,000). However, this is not common anymore, and the word has been used to mean one thousand million (1,000,000,000) for several decades. [4]
the long scale — designates a system of numeric names formerly used in British English, but now obsolete, in which a billion is used for a million million (and similarly, with trillion, quadrillion etc., the prefix denoting the power of a million); and a thousand million is sometimes called a milliard. This system is still used in several ...
For instance, according to the prevailing Big Bang model, our universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old (equivalent to 4.355 × 10^17 seconds). The observable universe spans an incredible 93 billion light years (approximately 8.8 × 10^26 meters) and hosts around 5 × 10^22 stars, organized into roughly 125 billion galaxies (as observed ...
Visualisation of powers of 10 from one to 1 trillion. A power of 10 is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times (when the power is a positive integer). By definition, the number one is a power (the zeroth power) of ten. The first few non-negative powers of ten are:
Indefinite and fictitious numbers. Many languages have words expressing indefinite and fictitious numbers —inexact terms of indefinite size, used for comic effect, for exaggeration, as placeholder names, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable. One technical term for such words is "non-numerical vague quantifier". [1]
Chimpanzee probably not typing Hamlet. Mathematics – random selections: Approximately 10 −183,800 is a rough first estimate of the probability that a typing "monkey", or an English-illiterate typing robot, when placed in front of a typewriter, will type out William Shakespeare's play Hamlet as its first set of inputs, on the precondition it typed the needed number of characters. [1]