Big Numbers are Not a Problem

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Big Numbers are Not a Problem

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1. Use powers-of-ten notation(Appendix C of
your text)

• 1.03 Gigatonnes
• 2.42 Gigatonnes
• 3.45 Gigatonnes
• Easy!

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2. Pick units and scales to suit!

• Kilometres rather than millimetres (say, for road
  travel)
• Light years rather than kilometres (interstellar
  distances)
• Solar masses rather than grams

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3. Think collectively

• person, vs umpteen atoms or cells
• nation, vs individuals
• galaxy, vs star or planet

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INNUMERACY

• A big problem in todays society! - budgets,
  health funding, etc
• (plus loss of basic skills, like making change!)
• See John Allen Paulos

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Mathematical Skills Considered
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Mathematical Skills Considered
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So, Consider Some Big Numbers

• - just for fun

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Handling Large Numbers
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Astronomical Example

• Was the Hubble Space Telescope worth 2 billion?
• Wouldnt the money be better spent elsewhere?

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But Consider

• There are 250 million Americans thats about a
  quarter of a billion. So it cost them 8 apiece.
• It took about a decade to build and launch.
• So it cost each US citizen less than the
  equivalent of one cup of coffee a year.

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Please Note

• This is not a compelling argument for building
  HST!
• It is merely a reminder that such an expenditure
  is actually very small compared to what we spend
  on things like
• health and education (as it should be),
• armaments (less compelling),
• movies, magazines and Mars bars
• baseball teams, jig-saw puzzles, diet plans, cold
  beer

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Other Large Numbers

• Ages
• Ants
• Inspiration, cakes and pools (see my notes!)

• Death rates
• Birth Rates