So how many is a billion?

[Tel]

http://www.space.com/15083-billion-s...lky-photo.html

[HoopsOnToast]

Depends, American or English....

[Professor Chaos]

Pffft, I counted them . . . nowhere near a billion



Cool picture.

[Barney]

As I understand it the original billion was a million millions, but we have gone the American way and now recognize a billion as a thousnd millions.

[dinkydave]

and we're the only inhabited planet

[Professor Chaos]

1,000,000,000 over here. 1,000,000,000,000 is a trillion.

[HoopsOnToast]

As I understand it the original billion was a million millions, but we have gone the American way and now recognize a billion as a thousnd millions.

Freudian Slip?

[i_should_coco]

As I understand it the original billion was a million millions, but we have gone the American way and now recognize a billion as a thousnd millions.

Correct. It's called the "short scale".

[Barney]

Freudian Slip?

American spell checker

[Honeywell1945]

As I understand it the original billion was a million millions, but we have gone the American way and now recognize a billion as a thousnd millions.

So is UK PLC indebted to the tune of 1.7 million million pounds or 1.7 thousand million pounds ?


My great great great great grandchildren need to know so they know how much shit we left them

Great photos but if it is only us it seems like a waste of space .

[Honeywell1945]

1,000,000,000 over here. 1,000,000,000,000 is a trillion.

Oops , missed this before I posted .

[kernow]

Space is mind boggling. To think our own galaxy is unfathomably massive and on these pictures it just appears as a speck. I am often in total awe learning about it.

[Barney]

Space is mind boggling. To think our own galaxy is unfathomably massive and on these pictures it just appears as a speck. I am often in total awe learning about it.

I used to be like that but now I take photos of mushrooms and butterflies.

[Honeywell1945]

Space is mind boggling. To think our own galaxy is unfathomably massive and on these pictures it just appears as a speck. I am often in total awe learning about it.

Carl Sagan avatar , cool man , sadly missed .

[tkimages]

Space is mind boggling. To think our own galaxy is unfathomably massive and on these pictures it just appears as a speck. I am often in total awe learning about it.

I used to have to teach this stuff to 15 yr olds, they just couldn't comprehend the scale of it and took it all for granted. Occasionally, one of the students would latch on to it and it made it all worth while. The Eureka moment!

[Ozexpat]

This would have to be the best use of Adobe Flash...

The Scale Of The Universe

[kernow]

Human compared to Japanese Spider Crab = *quiver*

[karlinamillion]

This would have to be the best use of Adobe Flash...

The Scale Of The Universe

Am I missing the Electron, or is it 'cos it's a cloud of uncertainly?

[Valvebloke]

You're missing it. The classical electron radius is in there at 10E-14 m. However this is just one measure of the electron's 'size'. You are also right in that, as with any particle sufficiently small that quantum effects are dominant, an electron will have a probability distribution in space which basically describes the likelihood of observing it at any particular point. So if it's bound to a proton in a hydrogen atom, for example, there's a small region around the proton within which the chances of finding it are quite large. A 'long way' from the proton the chances are very small. This is where your 'cloud of uncertainty' image is useful. In yet another sense though an electron appears to be structureless and can be regarded as point-like, i.e. infinitesimally small. The 'size' you pick should really depend on what you want to do with the information once you've got it.

VB

That 'Scale of the Universe' thing is excellent though. It hadn't occurred to me that the moon is only about the same size as the USA. I drove across the USA once. OK, it was down at the bottom where it's a bit narrower. But if you only stop for fast food and gas you can do San Diego to Houston in under 24 hours.

[earlofsodbury]

Am I missing the Electron, or is it 'cos it's a cloud of uncertainly?

I like this phrase very much indeed.

It describes me when I try to Brain.