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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Naming Large Numbers [06/05/2002]

In Rowlett's site for naming large numbers, he seems to take every American prefix and bump its meaning by one to get the corresponding Greek-based prefix. Why?

Numbers with Large Exponents [08/22/2001]

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

One, Two, ... Infinity, ... Infinities? [11/04/2010]

A teacher recalls two year-olds playing out a simple thought experiment about divisibility, which led them all to wonder if more than one infinity might exist. Doctor Vogler explains two different senses of infinity, one of which confirms their surprising discovery -- and mentions two more contexts of the concept.

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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