Confusion over a Billion

[Stevie P]

Ive posted this here not only to help me but I think it may be of some use to others...

So when I attended school a billion was :- 1,000, 000, 000, 000, a million million or 10¹²

In the US a billion was 1, 000, 000, 000, a thousand million or 10⁹.

Today it seems some deem a billion to be 10¹² and some 10⁹, now I realise to scientist ect the meaning of the word is irrelevent as they express numbers 10^x, but a lot of astro related text, talks of billions, trillions ect so does any one have a definitive answer...

Is a billion 10⁹ or 10¹² ?????

[Bizibilder]

10⁹ is the accepted value by scientists (and the finance industry) these days.  10¹² is sooo last year! 

[Stevie P]

10⁹ is the accepted value by scientists (and the finance industry) these days.  10¹² is sooo last year! 

Well I am getting on a bit....

[Bizibilder]

So am I.........! 

[Stu]

This may help....

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_and_short_scales

I'm with you, a billion in my day was a million million, but I've long since conceded that it is now 'only' a thousand million, and an old billion is now a trillion, if you get me :-)

Stu

[Mr Spock]

I've always known a billion as a thousand million and I'm really old...!

[cantab]

English has settled on "short scale" - a million is 10⁶, a billion 10⁹, a trillion 10¹² and so on. It became official in Britain in 1974.

Many other languages do use "long scale".

If you want real fun try Canada, where billion in English is 10⁹ but billion in French is 10¹².

[Skipper Billy]

Surely it depends on whether you owe it or have it ?? 

[itmo]

This is why i talk with SI prefixes if I need to be accurate. In my mind billion is a terasomething ie. 10^12. Unless you are talking to an american. In finland we actually use million, milliard, billion,thousand billion, trillion. I try to avoid using "billion" if there is a chance of misunderstanding. 

[kor84]

Slightly veering away from topic. How do you type that, to the power of?

[cantab]

There should be a button on the toolbar in the posting box that looks like x² and makes the text ^superscript.

[kor84]

Thanks   ^{: )} 

I thought it may have been on the keyboard somewhere

[Stevie P]

This is why i talk with SI prefixes if I need to be accurate. In my mind billion is a terasomething ie. 10^12. Unless you are talking to an american. In finland we actually use million, milliard, billion,thousand billion, trillion. I try to avoid using "billion" if there is a chance of misunderstanding. 

I totally agree with you..

M31`s one trillion stars is very different to us and an American....

[LukeSkywatcher]

1 billion to me, is 1 million x 1 thousand.

So: 1,000,000,000

So when I attended school a billion was :- 1,000, 000, 000, 000, a million million or 10¹²

^{That looks like a Trillion to me. It looks like 1 billion x 1000.}

^{I know Americans do and say things differently. The would say "fifty three hundred", instead of "five thousand three hundred".} 

^{By any means......................a billion is a lot of light years or cash.}

[baggywrinkle]

In either measurement I am far from being a billionaire, unless I convert my savings to Vietnamese Dong... ;-(

I would use ISO notation when the zero's get too many.

[m37]

I noticed Prof Hawking saying 'a thousand million', I chuckled to myself that he might be making a point!!!

[jpython]

If you are a banker or a government spender, a billion is petty pocket change, if you are a taxpayer its almost as big as a the distance to Andromeda, and if you are an astronomer, its just the view of a great galaxy.

Phil

[cantab]

If you are a banker or a government spender, a billion is petty pocket change

Reminds me of a comment I came across once, that we refer to large numbers as "astronomical", but considering the values of national debts, GDP, and so, perhaps such numbers would be better called "economical".

[jpython]

It is unfortunate that the word astronomical has been poluted by the size of the national debt, I like to think of the universe as unpoluted still, unlike the infinite spending of the government!  lol

Phil

[Cath]

[Sam]

If I had one billion dollars I'd like it to be one million million, but then again I'm sure I'd be very happy with 1000 million.

[bingevader]

Linguistically, it used to make a lot of sense for a billion, (bi-million) to be a million-million etc. now they're just words we give to numbers. 

But I'll have to check next time I'm out on my bicycle! I used to think the ETX90 was sturdy on its tripod, but now I'm beginning to have my doubts!

Cheers

[Scott]

1 billion to me, is 1 million x 1 thousand.

So: 1,000,000,000

So when I attended school a billion was :- 1,000, 000, 000, 000, a million million or 10¹²

^{That looks like a Trillion to me. It looks like 1 billion x 1000.}

^{I know Americans do and say things differently. The would say "fifty three hundred", instead of "five thousand three hundred".} 

^{By any means......................a billion is a lot of light years or cash.}

Did not that great british band Status Quo sing a song about 45 hundred times?

[M4lcs67]

I have asked this question to my maths college tutor the other week and I can confirm that a billion is a thousand million. With regards to a trillion. Well we didn't get onto that;-) It is probably the national debt of the USA.

[Earl]

so is the earth 4.5 billion years old or only  4500 million years old.

man this makes the universe 1.3 trillion years old..... or does it?

the American billion was made to make the rich feel spechul.