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Names of larger numbers, however, have a tenuous, artificial existence, rarely found outside definitions, lists, and discussions of how large numbers are named. Even well-established names like sextillion are rarely used, since in the context of science, including astronomy, where such large numbers often occur, they are nearly always written ...
A standardized way of writing very large numbers allows them to be easily sorted in increasing order, and one can get a good idea of how much larger a number is than another one. To compare numbers in scientific notation, say 5×10 4 and 2×10 5 , compare the exponents first, in this case 5 > 4, so 2×10 5 > 5×10 4 .
Far larger finite numbers than any of these occur in modern mathematics. For instance, Graham's number is too large to reasonably express using exponentiation or even tetration. For more about modern usage for large numbers, see Large numbers. To handle these numbers, new notations are created and used. There is a large community of ...
However, it is useful when comparing with other very large quantities, such as the number of subatomic particles in the visible universe or the number of hypothetical possibilities in a chess game. Kasner used it to illustrate the difference between an unimaginably large number and infinity , and in this role it is sometimes used in teaching ...
A sagan or sagan unit is a facetious name for a very large number inspired by Carl Sagan's association with the phrase "billions and billions". [20] It is not to be confused with Sagan's number, the number of stars in the observable universe.
The following table lists the progression of the largest known prime number in ascending order. [4] Here M p = 2 p − 1 is the Mersenne number with exponent p, where p is a prime number. The longest record-holder known was M 19 = 524,287, which was the largest known prime for 144 years. No records are known prior to 1456. [citation needed]
One of the greatest unsolved mysteries in math is also very easy to write. Goldbach’s ... 13+29, and 19+23. So it feels like Goldbach’s Conjecture is an understatement for very large numbers.
Empty numbers are sometimes made up, with obvious meaning: "squillions" is obviously an empty, but very large, number; a "squintillionth" would be a very small number. Some empty numbers may be modified by actual numbers, such as "four zillion", and are used for jest, exaggeration, or to relate abstractly to actual numbers.