i'm a math major and i'm going for my masters right now. I want to introduce a new number to our widely used number system. I also already have a name for it. The name has nothing to do with my name. But I don't want anyone to steal my idea.
Similar to the google, a 1 followed by 100 zeroes. that number was added to our number system a while ago. I'm not sure who came up with that, or if his name was john google. but I want to do the same thing as him. the google has absolutely no applications in the universe what so ever. there aren't even a google particles in the universe. the total number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in the universe is something like 10e83. that's from memory of reading "a breif history of time" by hawking. it's a wonderful book by the way. so how was the google brought into the dictionary and is usually taught in most schools at one point or another? and why, since there is no applications using it?
I'd like to introduce another one.
2007-01-26 10:05:20 · 3 answers · asked by brandon 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Here's the straight dope, quoted from pages 20 to 22 of the book cited below as source, and Wikipedia agrees.
The definition of a googol is: 1 followed by a hundred zeroes. It is just larger than the largest numbers which are used in physics or astronomy.
The name "googol" was invented by Dr. Edward Kasner's nine-year-old nephew, who was asked to think up a name for this very big number.
It is a useful number in schools because even quite young children can easily work out that the number of raindrops falling on New York in 24 hours, or even in a century, is MUCH less than a googol.
Most models of the universe reckon that it contains about 10^79 to 10^81 protons and neutrons. A reasonable estimate of the number of snow crystals which were formed during the ice age is 10^30. The number of grains of sand on Coney Island beach is about 10^20. The total number of words which have been been printed since the Gutenberg Bible appeared is about 10^17.
All of these are quantities which un-mathematical people usually think must be far too big to understand or even talk about, so the usefulness of the googol is to show them how easily we actually can talk about numbers of that size and far bigger ones.
2007-01-27 04:58:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
i don't know but a 1 followed by a googol zeroes is called a googolplex
2007-01-26 15:45:45 · answer #2 · answered by smokesha 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's "googol"... there is also "googillion" which is one followed by a googol zeroes :)
2007-01-26 10:16:42 · answer #3 · answered by disposable_hero_too 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋