• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Science / How is the Googolplex the Largest Number in the World, Who Invented it, and How Big is the Googolplex?

How is the Googolplex the Largest Number in the World, Who Invented it, and How Big is the Googolplex?

February 9, 2020 by Karen Hill

In order to calculate massive quantities, American Edward Kasner coined the “googol,” which is a one followed by one hundred zeros.

sundial-03

But the “googolplex” is now the largest number and is a one followed by a billion zeros.

It allows us to calculate that the number of electrons passing through a forty-watt light bulb in a minute roughly equals the number of drops of water flowing over Niagara Falls in a century.

Edward Kasner’s nine-year-old nephew Milton Sirotta was the inspiration for the terms googol and googolplex in 1938.

Writing down a googolplex in numerals is physically impossible, because it would take up more space than the known universe.

Another reason why writing it down is impossible is because the time it would take is many times the age of the universe.

Related Facts

  • How was the number system with a base of 10 invented and where did the base 60 number system come from?
  • Why Has Number 42 Been Retired by Every Major League Baseball Team and Whose Number is it?
  • What Is the Last Largest Number You Can Count To?
  • Where Is the Largest Desert In the World and How Big Is the Sahara Desert In Northern Africa?
  • What Is the Biggest City In the World and How Many People Live In the World's Largest Cities?
  • Where Is the Largest Mountain Range In the World and What Is the Longest Mountain Range In the World?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How did the Minute Originate and Why are There Sixty Seconds in a Minute and Sixty Minutes in an Hour?
Next Post: How Many English Words End in “gry” and Which English Words Rhyme with Orange, Purple, and Silver? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy