Other attributes
A power of 10 is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times (when the power is a positive integer). By definition, the number one is a power (the zeroth power) of ten. The first few non-negative powers of ten are:
1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, 1,000,000, 10,000,000. ... (sequence A011557 in the OEIS)
In decimal notation the nth power of ten is written as '1' followed by n zeroes. It can also be written as 10n or as 1En in E notation. See order of magnitude and orders of magnitude (numbers) for named powers of ten. There are two conventions for naming positive powers of ten, beginning with 109, called the long and short scales. Where a power of ten has different names in the two conventions, the long scale name is shown in parentheses.
The positive 10 power related to a short scale name can be determined based on its Latin name-prefix using the following formula: 10[(prefix-number + 1) × 3]
Examples:
billion = 10[(2 + 1) × 3] = 10^9
octillion = 10[(8 + 1) × 3] = 10^27
Name Power Number SI symbol SI prefix
one 0 1
ten 1 10 da (D) deca
hundred 2 100 h (H) hecto
thousand 3 1,000 k (K) kilo
ten thousand (myriad (Greek)) 4 10,000
hundred thousand (lakh (India)) 5 100,000
million 6 1,000,000 M mega
ten million (crore (India)) 7 10,000,000
hundred million 8 100,000,000
billion (milliard) 9 1,000,000,000 G giga
trillion (billion) 12 1,000,000,000,000 T tera
quadrillion (billiard) 15 1,000,000,000,000,000 P peta
quintillion (trillion) 18 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 E exa
sextillion (trilliard) 21 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Z zetta
septillion (quadrillion) 24 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Y yotta
octillion (quadrilliard) 27 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
nonillion (quintillion) 30 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
decillion (quintilliard) 33 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
undecillion (sextillion) 36 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
duodecillion (sextilliard) 39 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
tredecillion (septillion) 42 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
quattuordecillion (septilliard) 45 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
quindecillion (octillion) 48 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
sexdecillion (octilliard) 51 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
septendecillion (nonillion) 54 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
octodecillion (nonilliard) 57 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
novemdecillion (decillion) 60 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
vigintillion (decilliard) 63 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
unvigintillion (undecillion) 66 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
duovigintillion (undecilliard) 69 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
googol 100 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
centillion 303 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
googolplex googol one then 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 zeros.
The sequence of powers of ten can also be extended to negative powers.
Similar to the positive powers, the negative power of 10 related to a short scale name can be determined based on its Latin name-prefix using the following formula: 10−[(prefix-number + 1) × 3]
Examples:
billionth = 10−[(2 + 1) × 3] = 10−9
quintillionth = 10−[(5 + 1) × 3] = 10−18
Name Power Number SI symbol SI prefix
one 0 1
tenth −1 0.1 d deci
hundredth −2 0.01 c centi
thousandth −3 0.001 m milli
ten-thousandth (Myriadth) −4 0.000 1
hundred-thousandth (Lacth) −5 0.000 01
millionth −6 0.000 001 μ micro
billionth −9 0.000 000 001 n nano
trillionth −12 0.000 000 000 001 p pico
quadrillionth −15 0.000 000 000 000 001 f femto
quintillionth −18 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 a atto
sextillionth −21 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001 z zepto
septillionth −24 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001 y yocto
octillionth −27 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
nonillionth −30 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
decillionth −33 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
undecillionth −36 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
duodecillionth −39 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
tredecillionth −42 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
quattuordecillionth −45 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
quindecillionth −48 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
sexdecillionth −51 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
septendecillionth −54 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
octodecillionth −57 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
novemdecillionth −60 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
vigintillionth −63 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
unvigintillionth −66 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
duovigintillionth −69 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 001
The number googol is 10100. The term was coined by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. It was popularized in Kasner's 1940 book Mathematics and the Imagination, where it was used to compare and illustrate very large numbers. Googolplex, a much larger power of ten (10 to the googol power, or 1010100), was also introduced in that book.
The number googolplex is 10 (googol), or 1010,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and was also made by Edward Kasner's nephew.
Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers of very large and very small sizes compactly when precision is less important.
A number written in scientific notation has a significand (sometime called a mantissa) multiplied by a power of ten.
Sometimes written in the form:
m × 10^n
Or more compactly as:
10^n
This is generally used to denote powers of 10. Where n is positive, this indicates the number of zeros after the number, and where the n is negative, this indicates the number of decimal places before the number.
As an example:
10^5 = 100,000
10^−5 = 0.00001
The notation of mE^n, known as E notation, is used in computer programming, spreadsheets and databases, but is not used in scientific papers.
