why do americans call a thousand million a billion when a billion is supposed to be 12 zeros? its supposed to be this way:
10 = ten
100= hundred
1,000 = thousand
10,000 = ten thousand
100,000 = hundred thousand
1,000,000 = million
10,000,000 = ten million
100,000,000 = hundred million
1,000,000,000 = thousand million (not a billion)
10,000,000,000 = ten thousand million
100,000,000,000 = hundred thousand million
1,000,000,000,000 = a BILLION (because you cant say a million million, just like you cant say a thousand thousand, you say a million instead.)
btw a trillion is supposed to be 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.
do they call it a billion just so thay can call people who own over a thousand million dollars "billionaires"?
2006-09-09 06:08:31 · 7 answers · asked by jextreme_22 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
You are absolutely correct and I have fought with this crazy system all of my life.
The European way Million Milliard Billion Billiard Trillion Trilliard is so much easier. One takes the Bi or Tri or Quad and multiplies the implied number by 6 and has the number of Zeros.
Here in the USA you take the word number, multiply it by 3 and add three. Just as nutty as the 'English' weight and measurement system, what a pain!!!
This system was used long before anyone even thought of Billionaires. I think that Milliardaire would have been just as impressive!
I think that this has a lot to do with the American backwardness in mathematics. I am surprised we don't use Roman numerals.
2006-09-09 06:13:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mono= 1
bi=2
tri=3
M-illion
bi-illion
tri-llion
2006-09-09 06:16:22 · answer #2 · answered by Crystal Violet 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because the "bill" stands for Bill Gates
2006-09-09 06:15:13 · answer #3 · answered by suezekickboxer 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
They do because people are crazy and make no sense.
2006-09-09 06:13:08 · answer #4 · answered by Juniper B 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Why do we call poor people dirty?
Thanks for the points, gorgeous.
2006-09-09 06:14:24 · answer #5 · answered by Elitist, much? 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
intersesting
2006-09-09 06:18:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
why not
2006-09-09 06:13:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋