Ask Dr. Math

Elementary Archive

Browse Elementary Large Numbers
Stars indicate particularly interesting answers or good places to begin browsing.

Selected answers to common questions:
    Googol, googolplex.
    Place value.
    Scientific notation.

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Numbers with Large Exponents [08/22/2001]

How many zeros end the number 2^300 * 5^600 * 4^400?

Operations in Scientific Notation [08/30/2001]

How do you add, multiply, and divide in scientific notation?

Place Values Beyond Trillions [08/29/1997]

My Instructor wants us to find out what the place values are beyond the trillions place.

Power of 120 [06/12/2001]

Is there a quick way to work out 1.05 to the power of 120?

Prefixes for Naming Polyhedra [12/07/2000]

I am having trouble understanding Prof. Conway's explanation of his system of prefixes for naming large numbers and polyhedra.

Prefixes in Math [08/21/2001]

What are the prefixes for 7, 8, 9, and 10?

Really Counting to One Billion [06/08/2001]

A number like 777,777,777 clearly takes more than one second to say. How can we find how long it would really take to count to one billion?

Registering a Name for a Number [11/01/2002]

Would it be possible for me to register a name for a number, and where should it be done?

Rounding Millions [08/24/1997]

I know that 5 or greater rounds up and 4 or less rounds down, but how many significant digits does this affect?

Scientific Notation [09/16/1997]

I don't understand how you get the answer: 5x10 to the 3rd power = 5,000; 5x10 to the -3rd power = -5,000.

Scientific Notation [10/02/1998]

How do you write a number in scientific notation?

Scientific Notation [04/03/1999]

How do you convert a number to scientific notation?

Scientific Notation and Engineering Notation [10/10/2001]

Convert 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 3 to: a) scientific notation; b) engineering notation.

Six Billion Factorial [05/15/2003]

6 billion p 100. I know how to do permutations but there must be a quick way to do a problem like this.

Teaching Large Number Concepts [11/05/1997]

I have to do a project on how to teach the concept of millions, billions, and trillions to elementary school children.

That's a Big Number! [12/11/1996]

What do you call 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000?

A Trillion [10/22/1995]

How big is a trillion?

A Trillion Squares [9/9/1996]

A piece of graph paper 1 foot long has 42 squares to a sheet: how long would this paper stretch if laid in a line to make a trillion squares?

Understanding Large Numbers [01/14/1998]

I have a project where I need to make 30 billion (U.S.) relevant to everyday life. Do you have any suggestions?

Using Scientific Notation [11/01/1997]

I know it's used to multiply large numbers to get a correct answer, but I don't understand how to do it.

Value of 9^(9^9)? [10/21/2002]

What is the value of 9^(9^9)?

What does 9,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 mean? [11/20/1996]

How do you understand such a big number?

What is a googol? [11/20/1996]

How big is a googol?

Writing Numbers with Hyphens [06/04/2003]

Why do we hyphenate one hundred-millionth, but we don't hyphenate one hundred million?

Zero and Negative Infinity [06/02/2003]

What is the smallest number? Zero or negative infinity? Explaining concepts to a four-year-old.

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