| Name | HOW MANY Zeros | NUMBER IN DIGITS |
|---|---|---|
| Ten | 1 | 10 |
| Hundred | 2 | 100 |
| Thousand | 3 | 1,000 |
| Ten thousand | 4 | 10,000 |
| Hundred thousand | 5 | 100,000 |
| Million | 6 | 1,000,000 |
| Billion | 9 | 1,000,000,000 |
| Trillion | 12 | 1,000,000,000,000 |
| Quadrillion | 15 | 1,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Quintillion | 18 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Sextillion | 21 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Septillion | 24 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Octillion | 27 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Nonillion | 30 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Decillion | 33 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Undecillion | 36 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Duodecillion | 39 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Tredecillion | 42 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Quattuordecillion | 45 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Quindecillion | 48 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Sexdecillion | 51 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Septendecillion | 54 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Octodecillion | 57 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Novemdecillion | 60 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Vigintillion | 63 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Googol | 100 | 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| Centillion | 303 | 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
What’s the biggest number we need?
The number of atoms in the universe is estimated to be about 1080 (80 zeros) so if you are counting, you don’t need a number bigger than a Googol.
How can you memorise this list of big numbers?
Once you’ve figured out the pattern you can memorise this list of the biggest numbers pretty easily.
The origin of “Million” is a little cloudy, probably from Latin or French meaning “a great thousand”, so let’s move that aside and look at “Billion”.
See the “bi” at the beginning? That’s latin for 2. Like bi-cycle with 2 wheels, get it?
For “Trillion” you can see the “tri” which is latin for 3. Like tri-cycle with 3 wheels. Now you’ve got the hang of it!
Quad, Quin, Sex, Sep, Oct, Non, and then “Decillion” with “Dec” which is latin for ten. (You may be wondering why December is the 12 month, but actually is started out as the 10th month of the year in the Roman calendar)
Next we have Undecillion with the “un” for “one” in Latin/French, so we add a block of 3 zeros onto Decillion.
Then we have “duo” for 2, a second block of 3 zeros to give us Duodecillion.
Then “tre” for 3, a third block of 3 zeros to give us Tredecillion.
And you’ll see the set of pre-words repeating all over again: Quat, Quin, Sex, Sep, Oct, Nov. And then a new construct “Vigintillion” with 63 zeros.
Whew!