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While base ten is normally used for scientific notation, powers of other bases can be used too, [25] base 2 being the next most commonly used one. For example, in base-2 scientific notation, the number 1001 b in binary (=9 d) is written as 1.001 b × 2 d 11 b or 1.001 b × 10 b 11 b using binary numbers (or shorter 1.001 × 10 11 if binary ...
A standardized way of writing very large numbers allows them to be easily sorted in increasing order, and one can get a good idea of how much larger a number is than another one. To compare numbers in scientific notation, say 5×10 4 and 2×10 5, compare the exponents first, in this case 5 > 4, so 2×10 5 > 5×10 4.
In English, the prefix giga can be pronounced / ˈ ɡ ɪ ɡ ə / (a hard g as in giggle), or / ˈ dʒ ɪ ɡ ə / (a soft g as in gigantic, which shares giga 's Ancient Greek root). [5] A prominent example of this latter pronunciation is found in the pronunciation of gigawatts in the 1985 film Back to the Future.
Even well-established names like sextillion are rarely used, since in the context of science, including astronomy, where such large numbers often occur, they are nearly always written using scientific notation. In this notation, powers of ten are expressed as 10 with a numeric superscript, e.g.
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. [5]
For higher powers of ten, naming diverges. The Indian system uses names for every second power of ten: lakh (10 5), crore (10 7), arab (10 9), kharab (10 11), etc. In the two Western systems, long and short scales, there are names for every third power of ten. The short scale uses million (10 6), billion (10 9), trillion (10 12), etc.
[5] Scientific notation (for example 1 × 10 10), or its engineering notation variant (for example 10 × 10 9), or the computing variant E notation (for example 1e10). This is the most common practice among scientists and mathematicians. SI metric prefixes. For example, giga for 10 9 and tera for 10 12 can give gigawatt (10 9 W) and terawatt ...
The million is sometimes used in the English language as a metaphor for a very large number, as in "Not in a million years" and "You're one in a million", or a hyperbole, as in "I've walked a million miles" and "You've asked a million-dollar question". 1,000,000 is also the square of 1000 and also the cube of 100.