How much is a Trillion?

How much is a Million?

How much is a Billion?

How much is a Trillion?

What's the difference between
a million, a billion, a trillion?

A million seconds is 12 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
A trillion seconds is 31,688 years.

A million minutes ago was – 1 year, 329 days,
10 hours and 40 minutes ago.
A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.

A million hours ago was in 1885.
A billion hours ago man had not yet walked on earth.

A million dollars ago was five (5) seconds ago
at the U.S. Treasury.
A billion dollars ago was late yesterday afternoon
at the U.S. Treasury.

A trillion dollars is so large a number that only politicians
can use the term in conversation… probably because they
seldom think about what they are really saying. I've read that
mathematicians do not even use the term trillion!
Here is some perspective on TRILLION:

Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.
The country has not existed for a trillion seconds.
Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds.
One trillion seconds ago – 31,688 years
– Neanderthals stalked the plains of Europe.

Million:      1,000,000
Billion:       1,000,000,000
Trillion:      1,000,000,000,000
Quintillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
Sextillion:   1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Nonillion:    1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Centillion:   1 followed by 303 zeros

n =	10³ⁿ =	American name	European name	SI prefix	Greek-based name (proposed)
3	10⁹	billion	milliard	giga-	gillion
4	10¹²	trillion	billion	tera-	tetrillion
5	10¹⁵	quadrillion	billiard	peta-	pentillion
6	10¹⁸	quintillion	trillion	exa-	hexillion
7	10²¹	sextillion	trilliard	zetta-	heptillion
8	10²⁴	septillion	quadrillion	yotta-	oktillion
9	10²⁷	octillion	quadrilliard		ennillion
10	10³⁰	nonillion	quintillion		dekillion
11	10³³	decillion	quintilliard		hendekillion
12	10³⁶	undecillion	sextillion		dodekillion
13	10³⁹	duodecillion	sextilliard		trisdekillion
14	10⁴²	tredecillion	septillion		tetradekillion
15	10⁴⁵	quattuordecillion	septilliard		pentadekillion
16	10⁴⁸	quindecillion	octillion		hexadekillion
17	10⁵¹	sexdecillion	octilliard		heptadekillion
18	10⁵⁴	septendecillion	nonillion		oktadekillion
19	10⁵⁷	octodecillion	nonilliard		enneadekillion
20	10⁶⁰	novemdecillion	decillion		icosillion
21	10⁶³	vigintillion	decilliard		icosihenillion
22	10⁶⁶	unvigintillion	undecillion		icosidillion
23	10⁶⁹	duovigintillion	undecilliard		icositrillion
24	10⁷²	trevigintillion	duodecillion		icositetrillion
25	10⁷⁵	quattuorvigintillion	duodecilliard		icosipentillion
26	10⁷⁸	quinvigintillion	tredecillion		icosihexillion
27	10⁸¹	sexvigintillion	tredecilliard		icosiheptillion
28	10⁸⁴	septenvigintillion	quattuordecillion		icosioktillion
29	10⁸⁷	octovigintillion	quattuordecilliard		icosiennillion
30	10⁹⁰	novemvigintillion	quindecillion		triacontillion
31	10⁹³	trigintillion	quindecilliard		triacontahenillion
32	10⁹⁶	untrigintillion	sexdecillion		triacontadillion
33	10⁹⁹	duotrigintillion	sexdecilliard		triacontatrillion

Names for Large Numbers

The English names for large numbers are coined from the Latin names for small numbers n by adding the ending -illion suggested by the name "million." Thus billion and trillion are coined from the Latin prefixes bi- (n = 2) and tri- (n = 3), respectively. In the American system for naming large numbers, the name coined from the Latin number n applies to the number 103n+3. In a system traditional in many European countries, the same name applies to the number 106n.

In particular, a billion is 109 = 1 000 000 000 in the American system and 1012 = 1 000 000 000 000 in the European system. For 109, Europeans say "thousand million" or "milliard."

Although we describe the two systems today as American or European, both systems are actually of French origin. The French physician and mathematician Nicolas Chuquet (1445-1488) apparently coined the words byllion and tryllion and used them to represent 1012 and 1018, respectively, thus establishing what we now think of as the "European" system. However, it was also French mathematicians of the 1600's who used billion and trillion for 109 and 1012, respectively. This usage became common in France and in America, while the original Chuquet nomenclature remained in use in Britain and Germany. The French decided in 1948 to revert to the Chuquet ("European") system, leaving the U.S. as the chief standard bearer for what then became clearly an American system.

In recent years, American usage has eroded the European system, particularly in Britain and to a lesser extent in other countries. This is primarily due to American finance, because Americans insist that $1 000 000 000 be called a billion dollars. In 1974, the government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced that henceforth "billion" would mean 109 and not 1012 in official British reports and statistics. The Times of London style guide now defines "billion" as "one thousand million, not a million million."

The result of all this is widespread confusion. Anyone who uses the words "billion" and "trillion" internationally should make clear which meaning of those words is intended. On the Internet, some sites outside the U.S. use the compound designation "milliard/billion" to designate the number 1 000 000 000. In science, the names of large numbers are usually avoided completely by using the appropriate SI prefixes. Thus 109 watts is a gigawatt and 1012 joules is a terajoule. Such terms cannot be mistaken.

There is no real hope of resolving the controversy in favor of either system. Americans are not likely to adopt the European nomenclature, and Europeans will always regard the American system as an imposition. However, it is possible to imagine a solution: junk both Latin-based systems and move to a Greek-based system in which, for n > 3, the Greek number n is used to generate a name for 103n. (The traditional names thousand and million are retained for n = 1 and 2 and the special name gillion, suggested by the SI prefix giga-, is proposed for n = 3.)

This process can be continued indefinitely, but one has to stop somewhere. The name centillion (n = 100) has appeared in many dictionaries. A centillion is 10303 (1 followed by 303 zeroes) in the American system and a whopping 10600 (1 followed by 600 zeroes) in the European system.

Finally, there is the googol, the number 10100 (1 followed by 100 zeroes). Invented more for fun than for use, the googol lies outside the regular naming systems. The googol equals 10 duotrigintillion in the American system, 10 sexdecilliard in the European system, and 10 triacontatrillion in the proposed Greek-based system.

The googolplex (1 followed by a googol of zeroes) is far larger than any of the numbers discussed here.

The original definition of a googelplex is a 1, followed by the number of zeros it took unitl the man's son's hand got tired.