Viewpoints
Understanding Million, Billion,
and Trillion
By Charlotte Tanner
March 16, 2009
Monday
We read about how billions, and trillions are being thrown around
as "bail-outs", etc. I have never had one inkling
what these figures actually meant. They are much too large for
my mind to grasp, so I did some googling. This one website had
these neat definitions, they kind of give me a feeling for what
our government is promising various corporations, and other entities.
WOW!
What's the difference between a million, a billion, a trillion?
A million seconds is 12 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
A trillion seconds is 31,688 years.
A million minutes ago was 1 year, 329 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes
ago.
A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.
A million hours ago was in 1885.
A billion hours ago man had not yet walked on earth.
A million dollars ago was five (5) seconds ago at the U.S. Treasury.
A billion dollars ago was late yesterday afternoon at the U.S.
Treasury.
A trillion dollars is so large a number that only politicians
can use the term in conversation... probably because they seldom
think about what they are really saying. I've read that mathematicians
do not even use the term trillion.
Here is some perspective on TRILLION:
Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000.
The country has not existed for a trillion seconds.
Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds.
One trillion seconds ago 31,688 years. Neanderthals stalked
the plains of Europe.
Charlotte Tanner
Ketchikan, AK
About: "longtime Alaskan"
Received March 13, 2009 - Published
March 16, 2009
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