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From: act@pur-phy.UUCP (Alex C. Tselis)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Billion and billions
Message-ID: <1541@pur-phy.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 3-Dec-84 02:21:29 EST
Article-I.D.: pur-phy.1541
Posted: Mon Dec  3 02:21:29 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 4-Dec-84 07:48:35 EST
References: <177@philabs.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Purdue Univ. Physics Dept., IN
Lines: 12

> The number "one billion" means the number one followed by nine zeroes. This
> suits the mathematicians just fine, but I find it difficult to deal with such
> a definition when it comes to money, stars, etc.... In my attempts to really
> get aquainted with this "billion", I have found that the best way is to relate
> it to numbers that I can understand . For example, if I had one billion
> dollars worth of quarters, how many Empire State buildings could I fill ( if
> any)? Another one could be; if I had a billion Volkswagons and I parked them
> end to end, how far would the line of cars go?

I just got out four quarters, and the form a stack .65 cm high.  A billion of
them would form a stack 1.62 x 10**8 cm high.  This is 4,039 miles.
I'm sure that this can be related to.