Magnitude and Scale
Sometimes it is difficult to get the proper sense of magnitude when
dealing with time, distance, and probability. This chart shows various
arbitrary values from smallest to greatest.
| -Infinity |
Negative Infinity: Nothing can be any less |
| 0 | 0 Zero; Nothing |
| 10-32 | 0.00 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 Magnification at this level, in meters, would presumably show predicatable new structure beyond quarks and their particles. Scientists don't know what lies at this level yet. |
| 10-24 | 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 yocto- y |
| 10-21 | 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 zepto- z |
| 10-18 | 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 One Quintillionth atto- a |
| 10-16 | 0.0 000 000 000 000 001 At this level of magnification Quarks are visible. |
| 10-15 | 0.000 000 000 000 001 One Quadrillionth femto- f
In meters, one fermi
At this level of magnification it is possible to tell a proton has internal structure. |
| 10-12 | 0.000 000 000 001 One Trillionth pico- p
At this level of magnification, the core of an atom can be seen. |
| 10-10 | 0.0 000 000 001 In meters, one Angstrom Å |
| 10-9 | 0.000 000 001 One Billonth nano- n |
| 10-8 | 0.00 000 001 100 angstroms
At this level of magnification, DNA Helixes can be seen. |
| 10-6 | 0.000 001 One Millionth micro- µ |
| 10-3 | 0.001 One Thousandth mill- m |
| 10-2 | 0.01 One Hundredth cent- c |
| 10-1 | 0.1 One Tenth deci- d |
| 100 20 | 1One bit A Unit
Roman Numeral I
One meter is 1,650,763.73 wavelengths in a vacum of the radiation corresponding to the transitions between the levels 2p10 and 5d5 of the kryptopn-86 atom. |
| 21 | 2 Number of bits in a crumb |
| 22 | 4 Number of bits in a nibble |
| Pi | 003.141 592 653 589 793 238 462
643 383 279 502 884 197 169 399 375 105 820 974 944 592 307 816 406 286 208 998
628 034 825 342 117 067 982 148 086 513 282 306 647 093 844 609 550 582 231 725
359 408 128 481 117 450 284 102 701 938 521 105 559 644 622 948 954 930 381 964
428 810 975 665 933 446 128 475 648 233 786 783 165 271 201 ... |
| 5 | 5 Roman Numeral V |
| 23 | 8 Number of bits in a byte |
| 101 | 10 Ten deka- da
Roman Numerial X |
| 24 | 16 Number of bits in a word |
| 25 | 32 |
| 50 | 50 Roman Numeral L |
| 26 | 64 Number of bits in a double word |
| 102 | 100 One Hundred hecto- h
Roman Numerial C |
| 27 | 128 |
| 28 | 256 |
| 500 | 500 Roman Numeral D |
| 29 | 512 |
| 103 | 1, 000 One Thousand kilo- k
Roman Numerial M |
| 210 | 1, 024 One Kilobyte |
| 211 | 2, 048 |
| 212 | 4, 096 |
| 213 | 8, 192 |
| 104 | 10, 000 |
| 214 | 16, 384 |
| 215 | 32, 768 |
| 216 | 65, 536 |
| 105 | 100, 000 |
| 217 | 131, 072 |
| 218 | 262, 144 |
| 219 | 524, 288 |
| 106 | 1, 000, 000 One Million mega- M |
| 220 | 1, 048, 576 One Megabyte |
| 221 | 2, 097, 152 |
| 222 | 4, 194, 304 |
| 223 | 8, 388, 608 |
| 107 | 10, 000, 000 |
| 3.16 * 107 | 31, 600, 000
About the number of seconds in a year |
| 224 | 16, 777, 216 |
| 225 | 33, 554, 432 |
| 226 | 67, 108, 864 |
| 108 | 100, 000, 000 |
| 3.00 * 108 | 300, 000, 000 Speed of light traveling in space shown in meters per second |
| 227 | 134, 217, 728 |
| 228 | 268, 435, 456 |
| 229 | 536, 870, 912 |
| 109 | 1, 000, 000, 000 Billion giga- G |
| 230 | 1, 073, 741, 824 One Gigabyte |
| 231 | 2, 147, 483, 648 |
| 232 | 4, 294, 967, 296 |
| 1010 | 10, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1011 | 100, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1.5 * 1011 | 150, 000, 000, 000 One astronomical unit AU: the mean distance between the sun and the earth |
| 1012 | 1, 000, 000, 000, 000 One Trillion tera- T
(The English call this billion.) |
| 212 | 1, 099, 511, 627, 776 One Terabyte |
| 1013 | 10, 000, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1014 | 100, 000, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1015 | 1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 One Quadrillion peta- P
At this distance, in meters, our solar system appears as a small, white dot. |
| 9.46 *1015 | 9, 460, 000, 000, 000, 000 One light year LY, in meters |
| 1016 | 10, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 One light year LY, in meters, rounded off |
| 3.0945 * 1016 | 30, 945, 000, 000, 000, 000 One parsec in meters: 3.26 light years, or 206,300 astronomical units |
| 1017 | 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1018 | 1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 One Quintillion exa- E
Approximately 100 light-years in meters |
| 1019 | 10, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 |
| 264 | 18, 446, 744, 073, 709, 551, 616 One Bubbabyte |
| 1020 | 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1021 | 1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 One Sextillion zetta- Z
This distance, in meters, is about 100,000 light-years -- the Milky Way spiral galaxy would be visible. |
| 1022 | 10, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1023 | 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1024 | 1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 One Septillion yotta- Y |
| 1025 | 10, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 |
| 1027 | 1, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 One Octtillion |
| 2128 | 340, 282, 366, 920, 938, 463, 463, 374, 607, 431, 768, 211, 456 |
| 2256 | 115, 792, 089, 237, 316, 195, 423, 570, 985, 008, 687, 907, 853, 269, 984, 665, 640, 564, 039, 457, 584, 007, 913, 129, 639, 936 |
| 10100 | 10, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000
A Google -- a one with a hundred zeros after it |
| 2512 | 013, 407, 807, 929, 942, 597, 099, 574, 024, 998, 205, 846, 127, 479, 365, 820, 592, 393, 377, 723, 561, 443, 721, 764, 030, 073, 546, 976, 801, 874, 298, 166, 903, 427, 690, 031, 858, 186, 486, 050, 853, 753, 882, 811, 946, 569, 946, 433, 649, 006, 084, 096 |
| 21024 | 179, 769, 313, 486, 231, 590, 772, 930, 519, 078, 902, 473, 361, 797, 697, 894, 230, 657, 273, 430, 081, 157, 732, 675, 805, 500, 963, 132, 708, 477, 322, 407, 536, 021, 120, 113, 879, 871, 393, 357, 658, 789, 768, 814, 416, 622, 492, 847, 430, 639, 474, 124, 377, 767, 893, 424, 865, 485, 276, 302, 219, 601, 246, 094, 119, 453, 082, 952, 085, 005, 768, 838, 150, 682, 342, 462, 881, 473, 913, 110, 540, 827, 237, 163, 350, 510, 684, 586, 298, 239, 947, 245, 938, 479, 716, 304, 835, 356, 329, 624, 224, 137, 216 |
| 22048 | 032, 317, 006, 071, 311, 007, 300, 714, 876, 688, 669, 951, 960, 444, 102, 669, 715, 484, 032, 130, 345, 427, 524, 655, 138, 867, 890, 893, 197, 201, 411, 522, 913, 463, 688, 717, 960, 921, 898, 019, 494, 119, 559, 150, 490, 921, 095, 088, 152, 386, 448, 283, 120, 630, 877, 367, 300, 996, 091, 750, 197, 750, 389, 652, 106, 796, 057, 638, 384, 067, 568, 276, 792, 218, 642, 619, 756, 161, 838, 094, 338, 476, 170, 470, 581, 645, 852, 036, 305, 042, 887, 575, 891, 541, 065, 808, 607, 552, 399, 123, 930, 385, 521, 914, 333, 389, 668, 342, 420, 684, 974, 786, 564, 569, 494, 856, 176, 035, 326, 322, 058, 077, 805, 659, 331, 026, 192, 708, 460, 314, 150, 258, 592, 864, 177, 116, 725, 943, 603, 718, 461, 857, 357, 598, 351, 152, 301, 645, 904, 403, 697, 613, 233, 287, 231, 227, 125, 684, 710, 820, 209, 725, 157, 101, 726, 931, 323, 469, 678, 542, 580, 656, 697, 935, 045, 997, 268, 352, 998, 638, 215, 525, 166, 389, 437, 335, 543, 602, 135, 433, 229, 604, 645, 318, 478, 604, 952, 148, 193, 555, 853, 611, 059, 596, 230, 656 |
| 24096 | 001, 044, 388, 881, 413, 152, 506, 691, 752, 710, 716, 624, 382, 579, 964, 249, 047, 383, 780, 384, 233, 483, 283, 953, 907, 971, 557, 456, 848, 826, 811, 934, 997, 558, 340, 890, 106, 714, 439, 262, 837, 987, 573, 438, 185, 793, 607, 263, 236, 087, 851, 365, 277, 945, 956, 976, 543, 709, 998, 340, 361, 590, 134, 383, 718, 314, 428, 070, 011, 855, 946, 226, 376, 318, 839, 397, 712, 745, 672, 334, 684, 344, 586, 617, 496, 807, 908, 705, 803, 704, 071, 284, 048, 740, 118, 609, 114, 467, 977, 783, 598, 029, 006, 686, 938, 976, 881, 787, 785, 946, 905, 630, 190, 260, 940, 599, 579, 453, 432, 823, 469, 303, 026, 696, 443, 059, 025, 015, 972, 399, 867, 714, 215, 541, 693, 835, 559, 885, 291, 486, 318, 237, 914, 434, 496, 734, 087, 811, 872, 639, 496, 475, 100, 189, 041, 349, 008, 417, 061, 675, 093, 668, 333, 850, 551, 032, 972, 088, 269, 550, 769, 983, 616, 369, 411, 933, 015, 213, 796, 825, 837, 188, 091, 833, 656, 751, 221, 318, 492, 846, 368, 125, 550, 225, 998, 300, 412, 344, 784, 862, 595, 674, 492, 194, 617, 023, 806, 505, 913, 245, 610, 825, 731, 835, 380, 087, 608, 622, 102, 834, 270, 197, 698, 202, 313, 169, 017, 678, 006, 675, 195, 485, 079, 921, 636, 419, 370, 285, 375, 124, 784, 014, 907, 159, 135, 459, 982, 790, 513, 399, 611, 551, 794, 271, 106, 831, 134, 090, 584, 272, 884, 279, 791, 554, 849, 782, 954, 323, 534, 517, 065, 223, 269, 061, 394, 905, 987, 693, 002, 122, 963, 395, 687, 782, 878, 948, 440, 616, 007, 412, 945, 674, 919, 823, 050, 571, 642, 377, 154, 816, 321, 380, 631, 045, 902, 916, 136, 926, 708, 342, 856, 440, 730, 447, 899, 971, 901, 781, 465, 763, 473, 223, 850, 267, 253, 059, 899, 795, 996, 090, 799, 469, 201, 774, 624, 817, 718, 449, 867, 455, 659, 250, 178, 329, 070, 473, 119, 433, 165, 550, 807, 568, 221, 846, 571, 746, 373, 296, 884, 912, 819, 520, 317, 457, 002, 440, 926, 616, 910, 874, 148, 385, 078, 411, 929, 804, 522, 981, 857, 338, 977, 648, 103, 126, 085, 903, 001, 302, 413, 467, 189, 726, 673, 216, 491, 511, 131, 602, 920, 781, 738, 033, 436, 090, 243, 804, 708, 340, 403, 154, 190, 336 |
| 1010^100 | A Googleplex - a one with a google zeros after it |
| Infinity |
Positive Infinity: Nothing can be any larger |
|
