Names of large numbers - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Numbers that are larger than one million are usually either represented using scientific notation, or by words.[1]

There are two main ways of using words to write large numbers. The American way or "Short form" for naming large numbers is different from the European way or "Long form" of naming large numbers. This is mainly because of American finance. Short form numbering is based on thousands and Long form is based on millions. Because of this, in Short form a billion is one thousand millions (109) while in Long form it is one million millions (1012). The change in the United Kingdom to Short form numbering happened in 1974. Today, Short form is most commonly used in most English speaking countries.

Some examples

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Number Scientific notation Grouping
6 000 000 000 000 000 6 × 1015 6 quadrillion
765 476 250 000 000 7.6547625 × 1014 765 trillion, 476 billion, 250 million
123 456 789 1.23456789 × 108 123 million, 456 thousand, 789
145 000 1.45 × 105 145 thousand

Names for large numbers

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Scientific
notation		 American name

(Short Form)

Old European name

(Long Form)

Old-British name SI Symbol Metric prefix
0 Zero Zero Zero
1 One One One
2 Two Two Two
3 Three Three Three
4 Four Four Four
5 Five Five Five
6 Six Six Six
7 Seven Seven Seven
8 Eight Eight Eight
9 Nine Nine Nine
10 Ten Ten Ten da Deca-
11 Eleven Eleven Eleven
12 Twelve Twelve Twelve
13 Thirteen Thirteen Thirteen
14 Fourteen Fourteen Fourteen
15 Fifteen Fifteen Fifteen
16 Sixteen Sixteen Sixteen
17 Seventeen Seventeen Seventeen
18 Eighteen Eighteen Eighteen
19 Nineteen Nineteen Nineteen
20 Twenty Twenty Twenty
30 Thirty Thirty Thirty
40 Forty Forty Forty
50 Fifty Fifty Fifty
60 Sixty Sixty Sixty
70 Seventy Seventy Seventy
80 Eighty Eighty Eighty
90 Ninety Ninety Ninety
100 Hundred Hundred Hundred h Hecto-
1,000 Thousand Thousand Thousand k Kilo-
1,000,000 Million Million Million M Mega-
1,000,000,000 Billion Milliard Thousand million G Giga-
1,000,000,000,000 Trillion Billion Billion T Tera-
1,000,000,000,000,000 Quadrillion Billiard Thousand billion P Peta-
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Quintillion Trillion Trillion E Exa-
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Sextillion Trilliard Thousand trillion Z Zetta-
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Septillion Quadrillion Quadrillion Y Yotta-
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Octillion Quadrilliard Thousand quadrillion R Ronna-
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Nonillion Quintillion Quintillion Q Quetta-
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Decillion Quintilliard Thousand quintillion Metta-
1036 Undecillion Sextillion Sextillion Retta-
1039 Duodecillion Sextilliard Thousand sextillion Betta-
1042 Tredecillion Septillion Septillion Fetta
1045 Quattuordecillion Septilliard Thousand septillion Setta
1048 Quindecillion Octillion Octillion Yetta
1051 Sexdecillion Octilliard Thousand octillion
1054 Septendecillion Nonillion Nonillion
1057 Octodecillion Nonilliard Thousand nonillion
1060 Novemdecillion Decillion Decillion
1063 Vigintillion Decilliard Thousand decillion
1093 Trigintillion Quindecilliard Thousand quindecillion
10123 Quadragintillion Vigintilliard Thousand vigintillion
10153 Quinquagintillion Quinvigintilliard Thousand quinvigintillion
10183 Sexagintillion Trigintilliard Thousand trigintillion
10213 Septuagintillion Quintrigintilliard Thousand quintrigintillion
10243 Octogintillion Quadragintilliard Thousand quadragintillion
10273 Nonagintillion Quinquadragintilliard Thousand quinquadragintillion
10303 Centillion Quinquagintilliard Thousand quinquagintillion
10603 Ducentillion
10903 Trucentillion
101203 Quadringentillion
101503 Quingentillion
101803 Sescentillion
102103 Septingentillion
102403 Octingentillion
102703 Nongentillion
103003 Millinillion

The number googol, is a 1 with 100 zeros behind it (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), and the number googolplex, is a 1 with a googol of zeros behind it, (1010,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) (1010100). The number googolplexplex, is a 1 with a googolplex number of zeros behind it.

The name centillion was devised in the 19th century for the 100th "illion", being 10303 in short form and 10600 in long form, and is much bigger than a googol.

History

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The words bymillion and trimillion, and millions were first written to describe large numbers in 1475 by Jehan Adam. In 1484, Nicolas Chuquet used the words million, byllion, trillion, and even further to write larger numbers.[2] Adam and Chuquet both used long scale. For example, Adam's bymillion (Chuquet's byllion) was used to write 1012.[3] While these were the first writings that used these words, Adam and Chuquet were probably not the creators of the words. The word million comes from the Old Italian millione.[2][4] These words were also probably commonly used before the books were written.[2]

References

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  1. ↑ "Names of Large Numbers | Billion, Trillion, Googolplex | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Flegg, Graham (1985). Flegg, Cynthia; Moss, Barbara (eds.). Nicolas Chuquet, Renaissance Mathematician. D. Reidel. p. 29. ISBN 978-90-277-1872-3.
  3. ↑ "Large Numbers -- Notes (page 2) at MROB". www.mrob.com. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  4. ↑ "Definition of MILLION". www.merriam-webster.com. 2024-05-26. Retrieved 2024-05-30.

Other websites

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