Billion
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- For the modem manufacturer, see Billion (company).
The word "billion" and its equivalents in other languages refer to one of two different numbers, depending on whether the writer is using the long or short scale.
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109 (short scale)
In the late 17th century a change was made in the way of writing large numbers. Numbers had been separated into groups of six digits, but at this time the modern grouping of three digits came into use. As a result, a minority of Italian and French scientists began using the word "billion" to mean 109 (one thousand million, or 1 000 000 000), and correspondingly redefined trillion and higher numbers to mean powers of one thousand rather than one million. This is known in French as the échelle courte ("short scale") and is now generally used by most English-speaking countries, as well as Brazil, Turkey and Greece. In Puerto Rico it must be specified.
1012 (long scale)
The original meaning, established in the 15th century, was "a million of a million" (1,000,0002, hence the name billion), or 1012 = 1 000 000 000 000. This system, known in French as the échelle longue ("long scale"), was used in the United Kingdom until recently, and is used in most countries where English is not the primary language. 1012 is referred to as a trillion in the "short scale" system.
Synonyms
Use of "thousand million" for 109 and "million million" for 1012 can avoid ambiguity; however, British media, including the BBC, which long used "thousand million" for this reason, use "billion" to mean 109 and "trillion" to mean 1012. The old word "milliard", also found in many other languages, can be used for 109 but is unfamiliar even to many native English speakers. See long and short scales for a more detailed discussion and usage advice.
Sense of scale
The facts below give a sense of how large one billion (one thousand million, 109) is in the context of passage of time.
- About a billion seconds ago, the parents of middle school children were themselves in elementary school. (One billion seconds is roughly 31.7 years.)
- About a billion minutes ago, the Roman Empire was flourishing. (One billion minutes is roughly 1,900 years.)
- About a billion hours ago, modern human beings and their ancestors were living in the Stone Age (more precisely, the Middle Paleolithic). (One billion hours is roughly 114,000 years.)
- About a billion days ago, Australopithecus, an ape-like creature related to an ancestor of modern humans, roamed the African savannas. (One billion days is roughly 2.7 million years.)
- About a billion months ago, dinosaurs walked the earth during the late Cretaceous. (One billion months is roughly 82 million years.)
- About a billion years ago, the first multicellular organisms appeared on Earth. (The universe is now thought to be about 13.7 billion years old.)
In terms of distance:
- A billion centimeters is about the distance from Chicago, Illinois, USA to Tokyo, Japan.
- A billion inches is 15,783 miles, more than halfway around the world and sufficient to reach any point on the globe from any other point.
- A billion meters is almost three times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
- A billion kilometers is over six times the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
In terms of count:
A is a cube; B consists of 1000 cubes of type A. C consists of 1000 Bs; and D 1000 Cs. Thus there are 1 million As in C; and 1 billion As in D.
See also
- Long and short scales
- American and British English differences
- Millionaire
- False friends
- Large numbers
- Number names
- 1 E9 and giga (or 1 E12 and tera) for a list of occurrences of numbers of this magnitude
- 1000000000 (number)
External links
de:Billion es:Billón eo:Biliono fr:Billion gl:Billón it:Bilione hu:Billió nl:Biljoen pl:Bilion pt:Bilhão ru:Биллион sl:Bilijon fi:Biljoona sv:Biljon ta:பில்லியன் tr:Milyar