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while browsing the dr. math web site i came across the definition of one billion, and the fact that it is different between america and england. can any uk citizens verify this?
basically, it said for americans:
1,000,000,000 == 1 billion
but for the english
1,000,000,000 == 1 thousand million
and that the english billion is:
1,000,000,000,000 == 1 billion
while in american it's:
1,000,000,000,000 == 1 trillion
At the risk of sounding dumb.... Well, I never new that! :D
It all sounds a bit stupid to me, surely a billion should be a set number globally?!
This page has some interesting comparisons. Boy, we have some great names for those large numbers. :D
That's true, you want to have an English billion more than an American billion to be sure. :)
-Prelude
>...you want to have an English billion more than an American billion to be sure. :)
If you ask nicely, I might let you borrow one ;) :D
sextillion - :D who wouldve thought of that!:D
Yes its true, (and blatantly the English one is more logical) but these days no-one uses it, everyone uses the US-billion.
Why is the english way more logical? thousand million is two words, while billion (like all the other numbers), is simple one. The US version seems more consistant, at least.
here we go, another us/uk flame war...Quote:
Originally posted by SilentStrike
Why is the english way more logical? thousand million is two words, while billion (like all the other numbers), is simple one. The US version seems more consistant, at least.
so long as everyone uses one system, i'm happy. :D don't want to be deprived of some unearned currency.
And to think, I used to believe that the Brits were just poorer than us. :D Turns out they just use a different numbering system.
Shall we debate the merits of english vs. metric? :)
metric is clearly superior. it's american pride (and the cost of changing all the road signs) that is holding the metric system back in america. when you get down to debating the merits of different systems, they both do the same thing. one counts in 10s, though, and is easier to work with. i wouldn't impede the metric system's rise in america, but who wants to pay that much to do something that's going to change almost nothing?
Maybe it would have saved NASA a lot of cash and embarasment.
I bet one mission to Mars cost more than a few road signs.
The reason the British one is more logical is because:
A hundred is ten squared
A thousand is a hundred squared
A million is a thousand squared
and A billion is a million squared (or atleast an English billion is)
a billion is a million million, which makes sense, rather than being a thousand million which does not.
Anyway it doesnt really matter, the reason the US-billion is used its far more practical, a thousand million is a nuimber that is dealt with far more often than a million million.
Errm,Quote:
Originally posted by Clyde
The reason the British one is more logical is because:
A hundred is ten squared
A thousand is a hundred squared
A million is a thousand squared
and A billion is a million squared (or atleast an English billion is)
One Thousand is 10^3 which certainly isn't (10^2)^2, since that's 10,000 or 10^4.
I thought we'd given up in this country on using 10^12 as a billion and generally when refering to 1 billion mean 10^9. Possibly some kind of international standard was agreed upon. Certainly when my former employers reported a loss of 5.5 billion pounds, they certainly didn't mean 5.5 million million, but 5.5 thousand million.
Our way made more sense though, damn the world.
touche.Quote:
Originally posted by novacain
Maybe it would have saved NASA a lot of cash and embarasment.
I bet one mission to Mars cost more than a few road signs.
the cost of avoiding that problem is not as expensive as converting to one system of measurement. simply tell all the people in nasa to go metric. unlike other places, nasa is a very scientific place, so why not stick to the scientific standard (and avoid another ... problem.)
"Errm,
One Thousand is 10^3 which certainly isn't (10^2)^2, since that's 10,000 or 10^4."
Heh you're absolutely right, ignore me, i need sleep =)
"I thought we'd given up in this country on using 10^12 as a billion and generally when refering to 1 billion mean 10^9"
Yea no one uses the "English" Billion anymore.
The scandinavian countries have something called "Miljard" that is thousand millions.
Nearly all scientific facilities, including NASA, use metric now. The problem, I think, was that the thruster component of the spacecraft had been contracted to a private company - Lockheed Martin or something - and its electronics was set up for English units, not metric. The NASA engineers did the calculations and entered in the metric units into the computer, but the thruster interpreted the numbers as in English units and slammed into the planet instead of gliding through the atmosphere. (This may not be totally accurate, but I think this is more or less the case.)Quote:
Originally posted by ygfperson
simply tell all the people in nasa to go metric. unlike other places, nasa is a very scientific place, so why not stick to the scientific standard (and avoid another ... problem.)
And while the British system is more logical, "thousand million" is so awkward I'm quite glad the US convention stuck.
thousand this, thousand that!
all that is true here is that they did slam into the planet.hehe.
i cant help but try to find a solution....ok, here goes.............
Ok, we gave the yanks the language, so i guess whatever we say is correct?
They changed some spellings which were DIFFICULT..ie color instead of colour.
So, we are correct..i wannnnnna be an english billionaire anytime.
i wouldn't object to that much money. however, i think i would be satisfied with an american billion. :D ;)Quote:
Originally posted by Fountain
thousand this, thousand that!
all that is true here is that they did slam into the planet.hehe.
i cant help but try to find a solution....ok, here goes.............
Ok, we gave the yanks the language, so i guess whatever we say is correct?
They changed some spellings which were DIFFICULT..ie color instead of colour.
So, we are correct..i wannnnnna be an english billionaire anytime.