A Billion

[FlyingPig]

WHAT IS A BILLION?

I heard a government officiial saying they whrer ‘investing 3 billion on infrastructure and regeneration’. So what is a Billion?
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases.

a.. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
b.. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
c.. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
d.. A billion days ago no-one walked on two feet on earth.
e.. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes at the rate the U.S government spends it. The UK’s up there somewhere too so don’t laugh.

The next time you hear a politician or quango-head use the word “billion” think about whether you want him to go on spending your money. If you wonder why half of everything you earn goes to national and local government this might help you understand why.

[KingPoker]

I always just think of it as a 1000 million pounds.

[kinboshi]

WHAT IS A BILLION?

I heard a government officiial saying they whrer ‘investing 3 billion on infrastructure and regeneration’. So what is a Billion?
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases.

a.. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
b.. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
c.. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
d.. A billion days ago no-one walked on two feet on earth.
e.. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes at the rate the U.S government spends it. The UK’s up there somewhere too so don’t laugh.

50% of Americans believe that the world isn't that old.

[TheChipPrince]

Isnt a 'USA Billion' and a 'UK Billion' different?

[lucky_scrote]

Isnt a 'USA Billion' and a 'UK Billion' different?

no

1,000,000,000 in english, american or swa-heelie

[kinboshi]

Isnt a 'USA Billion' and a 'UK Billion' different?

Used to be.  A British billion used to be 1,000,000,000,000 but the American 1,000,000,000 has now been adopted as the definition of the term over here too.

[lucky_scrote]

1,000,000,000 is a billion
1,000,000,000,000 is a trillion

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 is a sextillion

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 is a google. Count the zero's if you dont believe me

[lucky_scrote]

Isnt a 'USA Billion' and a 'UK Billion' different?

Oops well looking at this site it shows that the US think differently to the rest of us as their terms are different to ours. Maybe thats why their president is so dumb?

http://www.jimloy.com/math/billion.htm

[TheChipPrince]

Dont write my theory off willy nilly!!!

nah, i dont really have a clue, but somethin rings a bell about them being different...

[Ironside]

1,000,000,000 is a billion
1,000,000,000,000 is a trillion

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 is a sextillion

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 is a googol. Count the zero's if you dont believe me

FYP

[lucky_scrote]

1,000,000,000 is a billion
1,000,000,000,000 is a trillion

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 is a sextillion

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0 is a googol. Count the zero's if you dont believe me

FYP

haha thanks

[Jon MW]

A million million used to be the standard British definition of a billion and a thousand million the American - but because the American one got adopted so widely the British definition fell out of use.

[kinboshi]

A million million used to be the standard British definition of a billion and a thousand million the American - but because the American one got adopted so widely the British definition fell out of use.

I'm sure that's what I said

[Jon MW]

A million million used to be the standard British definition of a billion and a thousand million the American - but because the American one got adopted so widely the British definition fell out of use.

I'm sure that's what I said

There seemed to be some question - I was backing you up 

[kinboshi]

A million million used to be the standard British definition of a billion and a thousand million the American - but because the American one got adopted so widely the British definition fell out of use.

I'm sure that's what I said

There seemed to be some question - I was backing you up 

Thanks