Googol is the large number 10¹⁰⁰, that is, the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeros (in decimal representation). The term was coined in 1920 by nine-year-old Milton Sirotta (1911–1981), nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. Kasner popularized the concept in his book Mathematics and the Imagination (1940). This article is about the corporation. ... Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Russian: ; IPA: ; Ukrainian: ) (April 1, 1809 — March 4, 1852) was a Russian-language writer of Ukrainian origin. ... For information on how large numbers are named in English, see names of large numbers. ... In mathematics and computer science, a numerical digit is a symbol, e. ... For other senses of this word, see zero or 0. ... For other uses, see Decimal (disambiguation). ... Leonhard Euler, considered one of the greatest mathematicians of all time A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of mathematics. ... Edward Kasner (1878–1955), (City College of New York 1897; Columbia University M.A., 1897; Columbia University Ph. ...

Googol is of the same order of magnitude as the factorial of 70 (70! being approximately 1.198 googol, or 10 to the power 100.0784), and its only prime factors are 2 and 5 (100 of each). In binary it would take up 333 bits. An order of magnitude is the class of scale or magnitude of any amount, where each class contains values of a fixed ratio to the class preceding it. ... For factorial rings in mathematics, see unique factorisation domain. ... This article is about the concept in number theory. ... The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, is a numeral system that represents numeric values using two symbols, usually 0 and 1. ... This article is about the unit of information. ...

Googol is of no particular significance in mathematics, but is useful when comparing with other incredibly large quantities such as the number of subatomic particles in the visible universe or the number of possible chess games. Edward Kasner created it to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and infinity, and in this role it is sometimes used in teaching mathematics. For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Western board game. ... Edward Kasner (1878–1955), (City College of New York 1897; Columbia University M.A., 1897; Columbia University Ph. ... For other uses, see Infinity (disambiguation). ...

A googol can be written in conventional notation as follows:

1 googol

= 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

Its official English number name is ten duotrigintillion on the short scale, ten thousand sexdecillion on the long scale, or ten sexdecilliard on the Peletier long scale. Names of numbers larger than a quadrillion are almost never used, for reasons discussed further below. ... The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world: Short scale is the English translation of the French term échelle courte. ... Names of numbers larger than a quadrillion are almost never used, for reasons discussed further below. ...

Googolplex

Main article: googolplex

A googolplex is the number one followed by one googol zeroes, or ten raised to the power of one googol: This article is about a number. ...

10^googol = 10¹⁰¹⁰⁰.

In the documentary Cosmos, physicist and broadcast personality Carl Sagan estimated that writing a googolplex in numerals (i.e., "1,000,000,000...") would be physically impossible, since doing so would require more space than the known universe occupies. Cosmos: A Personal Voyage was the name of a thirteen part television series produced by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan which was first broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service in 1980. ... Insert non-formatted text here Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer and astrobiologist and a highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics, and other natural sciences. ...

Googol and comparable large numbers

A googol is greater than the number of elementary particles in the observable universe, which has been variously estimated from 10⁷⁹ up to 10^{81 [1][2]}. Less than a googol Planck times have elapsed since the Big Bang (the current figure stands at around 8×10⁶⁰ Planck times). From the previous two figures, it can be seen that a list of where every particle is at every possible discernable unit of time since the Big Bang would contain over a googol entries, but still far less than a googolplex: around 8 × 10¹⁴⁰. See universe for a general discussion of the universe. ... In physics, the Planck time (tP), is the unit of time in the system of natural units known as Planck units. ... For other uses, see Big Bang (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Big Bang (disambiguation). ...

A little googol is 2¹⁰⁰ (about 1.268 × 10³⁰), or 1,267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376, while a little googolplex is or about .

Avogadro's number, 6.02214179 × 10²³, is exactly the number of ¹²C atoms in 12 grams (0.012 kg) of unbound ¹²C in its ground state. It is perhaps the most widely known large number from chemistry and physics. Avogadro's number is less than the fourth root of a googol. Avogadros number, also called Avogadros constant (NA), named after Amedeo Avogadro, is formally defined to be the number of carbon-12 atoms in 12 grams (0. ... Carbon (C) Standard atomic mass: 12. ... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ...

Black holes are presumed to evaporate because they faintly give off Hawking radiation; if so, a supermassive black hole would take about a googol years to evaporate.^[3] For other uses, see Black hole (disambiguation). ... In physics, Hawking radiation (also known as Bekenstein-Hawking radiation) is a thermal radiation thought to be emitted by black holes due to quantum effects. ... Top: artists conception of a supermassive black hole tearing apart a star. ...

Seventy factorial, or 70!, is "just over" a googol: 1.19785717 × 10¹⁰⁰. This means that there are over a googol ways to arrange seventy items (or people) in a sequence (such as a line to a concert). For factorial rings in mathematics, see unique factorisation domain. ... A classical music concert in the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne 2005 A concert is a live performance, usually of music, before an audience. ...

The Shannon number, 10¹²⁰, a rough lower bound on the number of possible chess games, is more than a googol. The Shannon number, 1078, is an estimation of the game-tree complexity of chess. ...

A googol is considerably less than the number described in the ancient Archimedes' story of The Sand Reckoner, namely But it should be noted that the system invented by Archimedes is reminiscent of a positional numeral system with base 10⁸, so that Archimedes' number could be written , that is, one googol in base 10⁸ For other uses, see Archimedes (disambiguation). ... The Sand Reckoner (Greek: Ψαμμίτης, Psammites) is a work by Archimedes in which he set out to determine an upper bound for the number of grains of sand that fit into the universe. ... For other uses, see Archimedes (disambiguation). ... A positional notation or place-value notation system is a numeral system in which each position is related to the next by a constant multiplier, a common ratio, called the base (or radix) of that numeral system. ... For other uses, see Archimedes (disambiguation). ...

In popular culture

Googol was the answer to the million-pound question: "A number one followed by 100 zeros is known by what name?" on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? when Major Charles Ingram allegedly attempted to defraud the quiz show on 10 September 2001. The other options were a megatron, a gigabit or a nanomol.^[4] GBP redirects here. ... In the United Kingdom, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers a maximum cash prize of one million pounds for correctly answering successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. ... Diana and Charles Ingram. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... There have been several Transformers named Megatron: Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons in The Transformers. ... A gigabit is a unit of information or computer storage, abbreviated Gbit or sometimes Gb. ...

In the January 23, 1963 Peanuts strip, Lucy asks Schroeder what the chances are of them getting married, and Schroeder responds "Oh, I'd say about 'googol' to one." is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Peanut (disambiguation). ...

In an episode of the animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward, the "Gaminator" video games system is said to have a "3-googolhertz processor."

"A googol is precisely as far from infinity as is the number one." — Carl Sagan, Cosmos Insert non-formatted text here Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer and astrobiologist and a highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics, and other natural sciences. ... Cosmos: A Personal Voyage was the name of a thirteen part television series produced by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan which was first broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service in 1980. ...

The company name Google is a misspelling of the word "Googol" made by founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as described in the book The Google Story by David A. Vise. This article is about the corporation. ... David A. Vise is a journalist and writer. ...

See also

• Large numbers
• Names of large numbers
• Googolplex

Big numbers redirects here. ... Names of numbers larger than a quadrillion are almost never used, for reasons discussed further below. ... This article is about a number. ...

References

External links

• History from the Google website
• Eric W. Weisstein, Googol at MathWorld.
• googol at PlanetMath.
• "Tridecabillion" by Paul Niquette