How many zeroes in a billion?
-
Quote:
Add six zeroes for every step in size
Argument against: other scales change prefix every three zeros (kilo, mega, giga, etc.) Another argument for: "bi" - twice as many, hence 12, "tri" three times as many, hence 18 You can choose one side but it's hard to argue that's more "logical".
Mircea
No, not adding six. Either add three (short count) or double (long count).
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
-
Yes, the British Government has used 1 billion == 1,000,000,000 since 1974. It's been at least that long since I last read (or believed) any statistics released by the British Government. :)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
Our government has also reported figures in terms of "billions", and then been unable to clarify which definition they were using. :doh: :laugh:
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer
-
Yes, the British Government has used 1 billion == 1,000,000,000 since 1974. It's been at least that long since I last read (or believed) any statistics released by the British Government. :)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
The British 10^9 billion is used for financial values (esp. by the Government); the British 10^12 billion is still more common outside of finance. The advice is never use the word Billion, use 10^9 / 10^12; or, when talking to 'ordinary' people use thousand million / million million. Same for Trillions etc. The generic 'gazillion' can be used without clarification as it just means an extraordinarily large amount.
-
1 zero. 1 billion == 1 gigabyte == 1,073,741,824 bytes ;) At least, that's how I count nowadays. :laugh:
Latest Articles:
Client-Side Type-Based Publisher/Subscriber, Exploring Synchronous, "Event-ed", and Worker Thread SubscriptionsIOW, a "billion" has 11110 zeroes
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
-
"billion" has no zeros. Zero zeros. :-D
I don't know, let me look at my bank account.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth.
-
No. Not squaring. Raising to the power. Billion=Bi million=million^2=10^12 zeros total Trillion=Tri million=million^3=10^18 zeros total Quadrillion=Quad million=million^4=10^24 zeros total ...(and so on) You can think of it more easily using geometry. Assuming that your geometric shapes have all sides identical, and one side corresponds to one million (which is your base unit and has six zeros), a: triangle=tri angle=three times the side=10^18 zeros total quadrangle=quad angle=four times the side=10^24 zeros total ...(and so on) I don't mention a "biangle" because that does not exist :P
ElectronProgrammer wrote:
No. Not squaring. Raising to the power.
You did notize the joke icon, didn't you? ;P
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
Nan 1 billion / 0 = NaN
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
-
Our government has also reported figures in terms of "billions", and then been unable to clarify which definition they were using. :doh: :laugh:
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
that's not a zero, it's a lowercase 'O'
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
Browsing through the answers I still think 9 is the best solution. Just a couple of Why: 1 - jives with scientific incrementation of values: every three orders of magnitude. 2 - much easier to say "billion" vs "thousand million", for example This isn't about taking sides for national pride - it's about very consistent usage across multiple domains of information. I live in a Fahrenheit country but water boils at 100C to me (for example). If you like these other forms, then why not remain consistent and write 1000,000000 instead of 1,000,000,000 (commas or dots as you prefer) ? There are always alternatives and fans for them, nationalistic and otherwise, but the three-per-block is more sensible.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
Use
__int64and don't care.Software Zen:
delete this; -
It depends. The British billion is a million millions, so there are 12 zeroes. The American billion is a thousand millions, so there are 9 zeroes. These days, the American billion is more commonly used than the British billion.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
Hex: 3B9ACA00 DEC: 1000000000 OCT: 7346545000 BIN: 00111011100110101100101000000000
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
-
I would say 9. What say you?
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
-
No kilomillion? The simple answer has been hanging around right under their noses this whole time.
Using SI units: Giga for 1,000,000,000 (9 zeros) and Tera for 1,000,000,000,000 (12 zeros)
