What is a billion

[Panic Button]

and what is a trillion plesae?

[mibn2cweus]

1000000000
1000000000000

[no-knowledge]

^ amazing

[Buenchico]

There used to be a difference between the British and American definitions of a 'billion'. Americans defined a billion as one thousand million (i.e. 1 followed by 9 zeros) while Brits defined it as one million million (i.e. 1 followed by 12 zeros).

When I was a child (1950s/1960s) the difference didn't really matter because a 'billion' (by either definition) was so big that hardly anyone ever needed to refer to it. In modern times, news reports frequently need to refer to very large amounts of money, so some standardization has become necessary. Unsurprisingly, it's the American definition which has 'won the battle', so when broadcasters refer to a billion pounds they mean �1000,000,000.

A definition of a 'trillion' has also been standardised

[DAIEYES]

a billion has 2 answers; American is 1 followed by 9 zeros, english (which is now not used) 1 followed by 12 zeros.
atrillion follows the same pattern, i.e. american is a million billion, english is a billion billion

[Buenchico]

There used to be a difference between the British and American definitions of a 'billion'. Americans defined a billion as one thousand million (i.e. 1 followed by 9 zeros) while Brits defined it as one million million (i.e. 1 followed by 12 zeros).

When I was a child (1950s/1960s) the difference didn't really matter because a 'billion' (by either definition) was so big that hardly anyone ever needed to refer to it. In modern times, news reports frequently need to refer to very large amounts of money, so some standardization has become necessary. Unsurprisingly, it's the American definition which has 'won the battle', so when broadcasters refer to a billion pounds they mean �1000,000,000.

A definition of a 'trillion' has also been standardised to the US definition, meaning one thousand billion. (i.e. 1000,000,000,000).

Chris

[Buenchico]

Oops!

I seem to have clicked on 'Submit' half way through writing my answer. Sorry about that, PB.

[Panic Button]

Thanks y'all (standardised American appreciation)

[ajmmac]

varies depending on where u are--generally in the uk a million has been regarded as a thousand thousands--1,000,000--so a billion was regarded in the uk as a million millions--1,000,000,000,000--in the usa, and in the computer age especially, a billion is regarded as 1 thousand million--1,000,000,000--in computer speak it is called a giga--a trillion would have been a billion billion in the uk but is now accepted as a thousand billion in the usa and in computers it is called a tera--the old million million and billion billion are not generally used now so when in the uk someone talks of a billion pounds it means 1000 million as in the usa and a trillion is 1000 billion--hope that helps--cheers

[ajmmac]

he who delays loses out--lol--i stopped halfway thru to eat--no answers when i started--cheers

[mibn2cweus]

here is the long and short of it

[NiceCupOfTea]

Isaac Asimov actually did an essay on this exact question! Decades ago - which proves we're not the only ones to be intrigued by huge numbers.

I agree with the Americans (they'll be relieved to know) on this one. A thousand millions are a pretty high number to have reached and therefore deserving of their own adjective or noun, yet the Brits would happily pass over them until you reached a million. Deary, dreary me.

[NiceCupOfTea]

And, therefore, a trillion is a thousand billions just to complete the question. Sorry.

[smorodina]

In fact, the Brits did have a name for a thousand million - it was a milliard. I believe this is still used in some European countries.

[rojash]

But the question was what is a trillion plesae?
Now, 1 Plesus = 86 fningles, and there are 198.2 fningles to snartflump, so you should be able to work it our from there.

[mibn2cweus]

. . . prefect!