2.1.6 - Larger Numbers in Science
2.1.6
Even Larger Numbers In Science and Astronomy
PREV>> 2.1.5 - Everyday Large Numbers for a Modern World
This article continues from the previous article, by continuing the trend into even larger numbers. These are Numbers that are rarely mentioned outside of tables of large figures cited in physics and astronomy ...
Next up ...
ONE SEXTILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^21
At this point it's getting difficult to keep track of all of those zeroes. One sextillion is rarely heard of, and not well known, but it is officially recognized and the legitimate continuation after quintillion. One Sextillion is 1 followed by 21 zeroes ( 7 groups of 3 ).
The earth has a mass of about 5.98 Sextillion metric tons ( 1 Metric Ton = 1000 kilograms ).
There are about 6 sextillion cups of water in all the oceans of the world [1] .
The volume of the earth is about 1.085 Sextillion cubic meters.
The distance between one end of the universe and the other may be about 87.9 sextillion miles !
Now another order of a thousand ...
ONE SEPTILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^24
One Septillion is 1 followed by 24 zeroes ( 8 groups of 3 zeroes ). A Septillion is a Trillion Trillions !
One liter of water contains about 33.4 Septillion water molecules.
The earth has a mass of about 5.98 Septillion kilograms.
ONE OCTILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^27
One Octillion is 1 followed by 27 zeroes ( 9 groups of 3 zeroes ) . An octillion is a billion billion billions !! It's almost impossible to even comprehend that.
The earth has a mass of about 5.98 Octillion grams.
The mass of the sun is about 1.989 Octillion metric tons.
The volume of the sun is about 1.412 Octillion cubic meters [2] .
ONE NONILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^30
One Nonillion is 1 followed by 30 zeroes ( 10 groups of 3 zeroes ). A nonillion is a quadrillion quadrillions !? Or a million trillion trillions.
The mass of the sun is about 1.989 nonillion ( 1.989x10^30 ) kg [2] .
ONE DECILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^33
One Decillion is 1 followed by 33 zeroes ( 11 groups of 3 zeroes ).
The Area of the Milky Way galaxy is approximately 702 Decillion square kilometers.
The mass of the sun is about 1.989 decillion ( 1.989x10^33 ) grams [2] .
ONE UNDECILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^36
One Undecillion is 1 followed by 36 zeroes ( 12 groups of 3 zeroes ).
The volume of the M Supergiant Star , Betelguese , is roughly 1.21 undecillion cubic meters.
ONE DUODECILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^39
One Duodecillion is 1 followed by 39 zeroes ( 13 groups of 3 zeroes ).
The great lakes contain roughly 52.92 duodecillion water molecules !!
ONE TREDECILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^42
One tredecillion is 1 followed by 42 zeroes ( 14 groups of 3 zeroes ).
There are about 200 Tredecillion atoms contained in the entire atmosphere of earth [1] .
There is about 100 tredecillion grams of matter contained in the grand total of all the stars in the milky way galaxy.
ONE QUATTUORDECILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^45
One quattuordecillion is 1 followed by 45 zeroes ( 15 groups of 3 zeroes ), and yes that is the official name. quattuor means "four" in latin, and deci means "ten".
There are about 41.75 quattuordecillion water molecules in all the water on the earth.
ONE QUINDECILLION
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
10^48
One quindecillion is 1 followed by 48 zeroes ( 16 groups of 3 zeroes ). A quindecillion is equal to a trillion trillion trillion trillions !
The earth is composed of about 89 quindecillion molecules [1] !!
ONE SEXDECILLION
10^51
One Sexdecillion is 1 followed by 51 zeroes ( 17 groups of 3 zeroes ).
The volume of the milky way galaxy is about a sexdecillion cubic miles [1] .
ONE SEPTENDECILLION
10^54
One Septendecillion is 1 followed by 54 zeroes ( 18 groups of 3 zeroes ).
The Volume of the Pleiades star cluster ( a near by star cluster within the milky way galaxy ) is roughly 226 Septendecillion cubic centimeters [4] .
ONE OCTODECILLION
10^57
One Octodecillion is 1 followed by 57 zeroes ( 19 groups of 3 zeroes ).
The Pleiades star cluster may contain roughly 800 Octodecillion hydrogen atoms [4].
ONE NOVEMDECILLION
10^60
One Novemdecillion is 1 followed by 60 zeroes ( 20 groups of 3 zeroes ).
The Volume of the milky way galaxy is about 147 Novemdecillion cubic feet.
ONE VIGINTILLION
10^63
One Vigintillion is 1 followed by 63 zeroes ( 21 groups of 3 zeroes ). Currently it is the largest "official illion" that is part of a continuous nomenclature starting from million , billion , trillion , etc.
The volume of the sphere approximating the Virgo Super Cluster ( The super cluster in which we reside ) is roughly 3.54 Vigintillion cubic kilometers [3] !!
ONE THOUSAND VIGINTILLION
10^66
A Thousand Vigintillion does not have a proper number name, there is no "illion name" for it. Scientists are perfectly comfortable using "scientific notation" and calling it simply "ten to the sixty sixth". The most common proposal for this number is naturally enough "unvigintillion", based on the trend established with decillion, undecillion, duodecillion, etc.
There are about a thousand vigintillion atoms in our galaxy [1] .
ONE MILLION VIGINTILLION
10^69
One million vigintillion is also known by number ethusiasts as "duovigintillion".
Note that by the time we reach numbers this big, it becomes very difficult to think of any example at all, not because numbers this big don't have physical representers, but simply because it is difficult to find an example that falls exactly in this range.
The Volume of the observable universe may be roughly a million vigintillion cubic miles [1] .
The Virgo Super cluster may contain close to 200 million vigintillion hydrogen atoms in it's 200 trillion stars [3] !!
ONE BILLION VIGINTILLION
10^72
One Billion vigintillion, better known simply as "trevigintillion".
The volume of the virgo super cluster is roughly 3.54 billion vigintillion cubic meters.
The volume of the great wall Super structure ( a giant "filament" composed of galaxy clusters ) is roughly 1.9 billion vigintillion cubic meters [5].
ONE TRILLION VIGINTILLION
10^75
One Trillion vigintillion, also called "quattuorvigintillion".
Unfortunately I was not able to come up with an example for this tremendous number, although there must certainly be a trillion vigintillion of something because this number is smaller than the lower bound for the number of sub-atomic particles in the observable universe. Let's just say that there is about a trillion vigintillion sub-atomic particles in 1/1000 of the volume of the observable universe.
ONE QUADRILLION VIGINTILLION
10^78
One Quadrillion vigintillion , also called "quinvigintillion".
It is estimated that the observable universe may contain roughly a quadrillion vigintillion sub-atomic particles [1] .
ONE QUINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^81
One Quintillion vigintillion, also called "sexvigintillion".
The volume of the universe is roughly a quintillion vigintillion cubic feet [1] .
ONE SEXTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^84
One Sextillion vigintillion, also called "septenvigintillion".
The volume of the universe is roughly a sextillion vigintillion cubic inches [1] .
ONE SEPTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^87
One Septillion vigintillion, also called "octovigintillion".
The Volume of the universe is about 47 septillion vigintillion cubic millimeters.
ONE OCTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^90
Also called "novemvigintillion".
ONE NONILLION VIGINTILLION
10^93
Also called "trigintillion", from the latin word "triginta" for 30.
ONE DECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^96
Because of the tremendous scale of these numbers, it is no longer practical to make jumps of a 1000 fold. Instead I will now be making jumps of a billion fold ! Because of this certain "illions" here will have no entries.
One decillion vigintillion is also called "untrigintillion".
The Volume of the universe is 47 decillion vigintillion cubic micrometers.
A micrometer = 10^-6 meters. Microbes can be measured in micrometers.
ONE UNDECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^99
Also called "duotrigintillion".
ONE DUODECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^102
Also called "tretrigintillion".
ONE TREDECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^105
One tredecillion vigintillion is also called "quattuortrigintillion".
The volume of the universe is 47 tredecillion vigintillion cubic nanometers.
A nanometer = 10^-9 meters.
Note: Recall that a Googol = 10^100 . This means that the volume of the universe is
4,700,000 googol cubic nanometers. The Googol is often regarded as impractically large, an not representative of anything in reality. However when we consider the entirety of the known universe divided by the some of the smallest known units of space, we easily exceed the googol. This proves that numbers as big as a "googol" are not as impratical and meaningless as once thought.
ONE QUATTUORDECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^108
Also called "quintrigintillion".
ONE QUINDECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^111
Also called "sextrigintillion".
ONE SEXDECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^114
One sexdecillion vigintillion is also called "septentrigintillion".
The volume of the universe is 47 sexdecillion vigintillion cubic picometers.
A picometer = 10^-12 meters.
ONE SEPTENDECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^117
Also called "octotrigintillion".
ONE OCTODECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^120
Also called "novemtrigintillion".
ONE NOVEMDECILLION VIGINTILLION
10^123
Also called "quadragintillion" from the latin word "quadraginta" for 40.
The volume of the universe is 47 novemdecillion vigintillion cubic femtometers.
A femtometer = 10^-15 meters. It is said that the diameter of protons and neutrons is about 1 femtometer, and that this is also the range of the strong nuclear force.
ONE VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^126
Also called "unquadragintillion".
ONE THOUSAND VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^129
Also called "duoquadragintillion".
ONE MILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^132
Also called "trequadragintillion".
The volume of the universe is 47 million vigintillion vigintillion cubic attometers.
An attometer = 10^-18 meters. It is said that the diameter of electrons and quarks is about 1 attometer.
ONE BILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^135
Also called "quattuorquadragintillion".
ONE TRILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^138
Also called "quinquadragintillion".
ONE QUADRILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^141
Also called "sexquadragintillion".
The volume of the universe is 47 quadrillion vigintillion vigintillion cubic zeptometers.
A zepto meter = 10^-21 meters.
ONE QUINTILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^144
Also called "septenquadragintillion".
ONE SEXTILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^147
Also called "octoquadragintillion".
ONE SEPTILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^150
Also called "novemquadragintillion".
The volume of the universe is 47 septillion vigintillion vigintillion cubic yoctometers.
A yoctometer = 10^-24 meters.
ONE OCTILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^153
Also called "quinquagintillion" from the latin word "quinquaginta" meaning 50.
ONE NONILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^156
Also called "unquinquagintillion".
ONE DECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^159
Also called "duoquinquagintillion".
The volume of the universe is 47 decillion vigintillion vigintillion cubic milli-yoctometers.
A milli-yoctometer = 10^-27 meters. Normally one is not allowed to combine prefixes, but in this case there is no prefix for 10^-27. We will learn more about this in the next chapter when we discuss SI prefixes.
ONE UNDECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^162
Also called "trequinquagintillion".
ONE DUODECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^165
Also called "quattuorquinquagintillion".
ONE TREDECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^168
Also called "quinquinquagintillion".
The volume of the universe is 47 tredecillion vigintillion vigintillion cubic micro-yoctometers.
A micro-yoctometer = 10^-30 meters.
ONE QUATTUORDECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^171
Also called "sexquinquagintillion".
ONE QUINDECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^174
Also called "septenquinquagintillion".
ONE SEXDECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^177
Also called "octoquinquagintillion".
The volume of the universe is 47 sexdecillion vigintillion vigintillion cubic nano-yoctometers.
A nano-yoctometer = 10^-33 meters.
ONE SEPTENDECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^180
Also called "novemquinquagintillion".
ONE OCTODECILLION VIGINTILLION VIGINTILLION
10^183
Also called "sexagintillion" from the latin word "sexaginta" meaning 60.
There is a theoretical "smallest unit of distance" that arrises in modern physics. It is the result of combining quantum mechanics with general relativity. In general relativity deals with the large scale features of our universe, while quantum mechanics deals with the small scale features.
In general relativity, gravity is reinterpreted as a force which distorts the fabric of space-time, and by doing so, effects the motion of neighboring objects. In otherwords, the theory says that the presense of matter distorts the local space-time.
In Quantum mechanics, what we can't observe is ultimately unknowable. It postulates that at the smallest scale the universe is random and chaotic, and is only governed by laws of statistics. As a by-product of this, it is said that on small scales, "virtual particle pairs" can spontanteously pop in and out of existence. Because these virtual particles are created and destroyed so rapidly, it is argued, that the conversation law of mass-energy is not broken. Another even weirder consequence of the theory is that as the scale gets smaller and smaller, more energy will pop in and out of existence in shorter time frames.
When we combine the 2 theories there is an interesting result. As we go down into smaller and smaller scales, eventually we encounter a scale where highly massive virtual pairs are created. Because of the huge amount of mass, general relativity says there will be a very huge local distruption in the space-time fabric. Eventually these distortions become so severe that the equations literally explode. This "bubbly space-time" is sometimes refered to as "quantum foam".
The result is that the continuity and consistency of space and time ceases to be meaningful. It is said that concepts such as "here" or "there", "past" and "future", get scrambled, so that there is no concept of sequence.
It is therefore impossible to measure distances smaller than this threshold. Hence, it becomes meaningful to talk of a "smallest possible distance that can be meaningfully measured". This minimum distance is called the "Planck Length", and it is approximately 10^-35 meters. So Now what if we take the entirety of the known universe and divide it by the smallest possible spatial unit ? ...
In this case we can say that the volume of the universe is 47 octodecillion vigintillion vigintillion cubic Plank lengths, that's 4.7 x 10^184 Pl^3 .
Note that this volume is computed by treating the universe as if it were the hyper-surface of a 4-dimensional sphere ( sometimes called the "glome" among the polychorists ). One can think of this "glome" as starting out as an infintesimal point at the big bang, and then expanding like a 4 dimensional balloon 4-space. In other words, this volume is only the volume of the universe 'now'. At an earlier time the volume would have been smaller, and in the far future it may be much larger still ! And notice the exponent, 184. Most people think numbers these large have no physical meaning, but what these estimates show is that they may very well represent tangable and measurable things !!
So that's it right ? We have reached the end of physical numbers ... not quite. Assuming the universe will continue to exist and expand the volume will increase with time. Cosmologists usually say the big bang occured somewhere around 15,000,000,000 years ago. What if we were to consider the universe a long long time from now ? ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This page is now getting too large, so I will continue this discussion in a third part. Now we will consider the very limits of numbers that can have meaning in physics !!
Go Back Home
Return to Section 2 - 1
NEXT>> 2.1.7 Largest numbers theoretically possible
Source Material :
[1] http://pages.prodigy.net/jhonig/bignum/indx.html : Jhonig's site, entry for a sextillion and duodecillion.
[2] http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/sun/sun_size_distance.html : The mass and volume of the sun is given in the table near the bottom of this page.
[3] http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-virgo-supercluster.htm : Site provides some information on the Virgo Super cluster, used to compute it's volume.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(star_cluster) : This wikipedia article describes the Pleiades Star Cluster. I estimated the number of atoms based on an estimate of mass ( 800 solar masses ) cited under composition.
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_(astronomy) : This wikipedia article explains the great wall super structure and describes it's dimensions.