i was looking up the definition of one billion to find out how many 0's it should have, im certain it was 12 zeros as a biliion is a million million, right

this is what wikipedia says,

The long and short scales are two of the several different numerical systems used throughout the world:

Short scale is the English translation of the French term échelle courte.[1] It refers to a system of numeric names in which every new term greater than million is 1,000 times the previous term: billion means a thousand millions (10^9), trillion means a thousand billions (10^12), and so on.

Long scale is the English translation of the French term échelle longue. It refers to a system of numeric names in which every new term greater than million is 1,000,000 times the previous term: billion (from bi and million) means a million to the power of two or a million millions (10^12), trillion (from tri and million) means a million to the power of three or a million billions (10^18), and so on.

it the short scale it says a billion is 10^9 and in the long scale it says a billion is 10^12?

so which is it?

Are you counting your money?

Generally accepted now that 1 billion is 9 zeros.

This is the old story of why America had billionaires and the UK didnt. Uk always used to be 12 zeros and the US 9 zeros.

Both - there are two definitions.........

great isn't it.

I was under the impression generally the americans used the short version and the brits used the long version.

I believe the fact that Craig Venter is American is why often figures used in modern human genetics are quoted using the short scale 10^9 for 1 billion.

[Edited on 26/8/09 by cd.thomson]

I think everyone uses 10^9 now. It certainly makes more sense anyway.

I thought we'd switch to Thousand Million to.

Problem with Wiki is that anyone can edit it to say what ever they like... so always to be taken with a pinch of salt.

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Originally posted by coozer
Problem with Wiki is that anyone can edit it to say what ever they like... so always to be taken with a pinch of salt.

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Most commonly accpeted is shortscale 10^9, although 10^12 is still valid. Increased cooperation between UK and US banks (as evidenced by the recession, cheers Gordon!) has further cemented the widespread use of 10^9 as a billion, 10^12 under the same system would now be a trillion(?). HTH

I agree with Craig, Wiki is usually as reliable as any other source, however, if you're writing an academic piece don't use it as a reference - because its not peer assessed!

[Edited on 26/8/09 by tomprescott]

All I know is that a billion UK pounds is worth almost double a billion Cdn $ - unless you live in the UK, where things are almost doubly expensive, and then it wouldn't matter.

both are correct.

check out milliard

these numbers do not bother me as I don't have a million pounds let alone a milliard/billion/whippyzillion pounds.

1,000 thousand
1,000,000 million
1,000,000,000 billion
1,000,000,000,000 trillion

as i understand it

i found out the other day that quadrillion is the one above trillion, but then the pattern seems obvious and it would be quintrillion next

And everyone uses short nowadays IMHO.

a marillion is how much?

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Originally posted by 02GF74
a marillion is how much?

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