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  3. How many zeroes in a billion?

How many zeroes in a billion?

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  • D Daniel Pfeffer

    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.

    Richard DeemingR Offline
    Richard DeemingR Offline
    Richard Deeming
    wrote on last edited by
    #23

    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

    "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined" - Homer

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    • D Daniel Pfeffer

      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.

      J Offline
      J Offline
      jsc42
      wrote on last edited by
      #24

      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.

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      • M Marc Clifton

        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 Subscriptions

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        Daniel Pfeffer
        wrote on last edited by
        #25

        IOW, 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.

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        • S Slacker007

          "billion" has no zeros. Zero zeros. :-D

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          Wizard of Sleeves
          wrote on last edited by
          #26

          I don't know, let me look at my bank account.

          Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth.

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          • E ElectronProgrammer

            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

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            Nelek
            wrote on last edited by
            #27

            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.

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            • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

              I would say 9. What say you?

              "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

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              maze3
              wrote on last edited by
              #28

              17 zeros 111011100110101100101000000000

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              • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                I would say 9. What say you?

                "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

                F Offline
                F Offline
                Fueled By Decaff
                wrote on last edited by
                #29

                Nan 1 billion / 0 = NaN

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                • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                  I would say 9. What say you?

                  "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

                  K Offline
                  K Offline
                  Kiriander
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #30

                  Exactly one, as in 10^x. Or none with Ex.

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                  • Richard DeemingR Richard Deeming

                    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

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                    musefan
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #31

                    That's because our government is really intelligent. Though I am unable to confirm which definition of intelligent I am using.

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                    • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                      I would say 9. What say you?

                      "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

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                      C Offline
                      Chris Losinger
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #32

                      that's not a zero, it's a lowercase 'O'

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                      • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                        I would say 9. What say you?

                        "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

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                        W Balboos GHB
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #33

                        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.

                        Ravings en masse^

                        "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

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                        • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                          I would say 9. What say you?

                          "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

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                          G Offline
                          Gary Wheeler
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #34

                          Use __int64 and don't care.

                          Software Zen: delete this;

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                          • D Daniel Pfeffer

                            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.

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                            jochance
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #35

                            No kilomillion? The simple answer has been hanging around right under their noses this whole time.

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                            • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                              I would say 9. What say you?

                              "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

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                              JP Reyes
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #36

                              12 - it makes the most sense numerically and linguistically ...but I live in third world Texas, where such criteria is ungodly.

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                              • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                I would say 9. What say you?

                                "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

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                                Z Offline
                                Zuoliu Ding
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #37

                                Hex: 3B9ACA00 DEC: 1000000000 OCT: 7346545000 BIN: 00111011100110101100101000000000

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                                • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                  I would say 9. What say you?

                                  "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

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                                  L Offline
                                  Lost User
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #38

                                  I say a parlement.

                                  Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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                                  • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                    I would say 9. What say you?

                                    "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

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                                    ormonds
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #39

                                    Reminds me of an old joke. A certain US President was told that three Brazilian soldiers had died in a peacekeeping effort. He looked shocked, and after a while said "Remind me, how many is a Brazilian?"

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                                    • J jochance

                                      No kilomillion? The simple answer has been hanging around right under their noses this whole time.

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                                      J Offline
                                      James Lonero
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #40

                                      Using SI units: Giga for 1,000,000,000 (9 zeros) and Tera for 1,000,000,000,000 (12 zeros)

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                                      • L Lost User

                                        A billion of what?

                                        It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it. ― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food

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                                        Stefan_Lang
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #41

                                        A billion of zeroes, of course ;P

                                        GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)

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                                        • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

                                          I would say 9. What say you?

                                          "The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012

                                          enhzflepE Offline
                                          enhzflepE Offline
                                          enhzflep
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #42

                                          I'd say as many as you want. They don't contribute anything, so knock yerself out. It's all the ones that add up to something. I reckon a billion's got a thousand million of em.

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