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More specifically, $10^6$ is one million, $10^9$ is one billion. So what is $10^{99}$?

Milo Brandt
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xPythagoras
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  • Are you asking about $(10^9)^9$ or $10^{99}$? – Greg Martin Mar 22 '15 at 20:02
  • just $0.1$ googol – Elaqqad Mar 22 '15 at 20:02
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_10 – Greg Martin Mar 22 '15 at 20:02
  • Or $$ 10^\left( 9^9 \right) ?$$ – Will Jagy Mar 22 '15 at 20:02
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    It's pronounced "tin too thee nahyn-tee nahynth".$\ \ $ :)$\ \ $ That's really the only standardized way to say it in English. –  Mar 22 '15 at 20:02
  • I am asking about 10 raise to the 99th power – xPythagoras Mar 22 '15 at 20:03
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    @angryavian That you don't know it doesn't mean there isn't a word for it. There are in fact words for $10^{99}$. – Nathanson Mar 22 '15 at 20:06
  • @xPythagoras There might be several ways to call $10^{99}$. The terminology for powers of $10$ depends on how to you do the grouping of the zeros, which British do differently than in America. One possibility could be $10^{36}\cdot10^{63}$, which gives the name one undecillion of vigintillions. Checkout this article. – Nathanson Mar 22 '15 at 20:10
  • @xPythagoras A British probably would call it one thousand sexdecillions from $10^{99}=10^3\cdot10^{96}$. – Nathanson Mar 22 '15 at 20:16
  • @Nathanson: Well, I'm a British, and I would always call it "ten to the ninety-nine". I think most Britishes would agree with me. You would have to search long and hard before you found somebody who called it one thousand sexdecillions! – TonyK Mar 22 '15 at 20:33
  • I'd just say "ten to the ninety nine," honestly. – Akiva Weinberger Mar 22 '15 at 20:34
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    I'm in the "ten to the ninety nine" brigade - other expressions may be clever and sound erudite but they do not communicate effectively and unambiguously what you mean. I would have to look it up, and frankly I wouldn't bother. If you want people to understand what you write or say, simplest is undoubtedly best. – Mark Bennet Mar 22 '15 at 21:59
  • @MarkBennet I was just curious as I saw on the wikipedia page for powers of ten that many are missing. I got a number that numbered in the duotrigintillions (apparently) as a solution and wanted to learn more about how I would say it. – xPythagoras Mar 22 '15 at 22:42

2 Answers2

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$10^{99}$ is one duotrigintillion. There is a reference to this on the Wikipedia page for googol or in Nasdaq's financial dictionary.

bzc
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    +1 because this answer really should be shown above my answer and its lengthy list of comments. – David K Mar 22 '15 at 21:49
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In the British system of names of large numbers, which is actually a bit more logical than the American system, $10^{99}$ would be "one thousand sexdecillion", derived from the prefix "sexdeci-" for $16$ and the formula $10^{99} = 1000 * (10^6)^{16}.$

Note: As observed in comments, this is not a practical answer. I don't know anyone who actually uses the British system in "real life". But I also don't know anyone who would use either the British or American systems of names of large numbers (the ones ending in "-illion") to describe $10^{99}$. Any names for this number other than the obvious ones (such as "ten to the ninety-nine") will fall somewhere in the realm of oddities and curiosities, and this answer is certainly in that realm.

Brandon Carter's answer is obviously superior since the original question said $10^9$ is one billion, indicating the American naming system was to be used.

David K
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    The British system is now completely obsolete, because of its impracticality. It may or may not be more logical $-$ this, I think, is open to debate $-$ but the usefulness of a one-word term for the American billion is not open to debate. – TonyK Mar 22 '15 at 20:27
  • @TonyK Well, obsolete in English-speaking countries, anyway. – Akiva Weinberger Mar 22 '15 at 20:33
  • @columbus8myhw: Are there still languages that have a word for $10^{12}$, but no word for $10^9$? – TonyK Mar 22 '15 at 20:35
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    If it's a question of practicality, $10^{99}$ is ten to the ninety-ninth. I do not want to have to translate a pseudo-Latin prefix into English, add one and multiply by three to figure out the order of magnitude of a number. A trillion, fine, a quadrillion, maybe, go much farther and it's too obscure. – David K Mar 22 '15 at 20:36
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    @TonyK Well, whether or not it's one word probably depends on the language. By the way, in older British English (when they still used the long scale) they called it "milliard," not "thousand million." – Akiva Weinberger Mar 22 '15 at 20:37
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    @columbus8myhw: "milliard" has never been in general use in English. – TonyK Mar 22 '15 at 20:39
  • @DavidK: Your ngram is for "trillion", not "billion". Look at my ngram for the true story. – TonyK Mar 22 '15 at 20:54
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    @TonyK. In Spanish 'billón' is the word for 10^12. And although 'millardo' can be used for 10^9, it is much more common to use 'mil millones' (a thousand millions) – Zamu Mar 22 '15 at 21:04
  • @Zamu: I stand corrected! – TonyK Mar 22 '15 at 21:04
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    @TonyK The point is, we're not talking about words that people use in real life. The British system may be merely a historical curiosity at this time; but all the words for very large numbers are mere curiosities at this time. – David K Mar 22 '15 at 21:25
  • @DavidK: Ah, I see you have deleted your ngram comment. No thanks are necessary. – TonyK Mar 22 '15 at 22:09
  • @TonyK Actually, I'm considering citing your ngram (with proper credit, of course!) in an edit to the question. The only thing holding me back is that the answer is a little overblown already as it is. – David K Mar 22 '15 at 22:15