What comes after trillion? Explore billion, quadrillion, quintillion to centillion
🇺🇸 Short Scale
Each -illion is 1000× previous. US, UK (post-1974), Canada, Australia. Billion = 10⁹.
Trillion = 10¹². Most common in English.
🇪🇺 Long Scale
Each -illion is 1,000,000× previous. France, Germany, Spain, Italy. Billion = 10¹². Uses
"milliard" for 10⁹. Traditional European system.
📊 Key Difference
billion: Short = 10⁹ (1,000 million). Long = 10¹² (1 million million). Same word,
different value! Always verify which system.
🌍 Other Systems
China/Japan: 万 (10⁴), 億 (10⁸). India: lakh (10⁵), crore (10⁷).
Different groupings than Western systems.
What comes after trillion?
Quadrillion (10¹⁵) in short scale. Then quintillion (10¹⁸),
sextillion (10²¹), septillion (10²⁴), octillion (10²⁷), nonillion (10³⁰), decillion (10³³).
How many zeros in a trillion?
12 zeros in short scale (US/UK): 1,000,000,000,000. In long scale
(some European countries), trillion = 10¹⁸ = 18 zeros.
How many zeros in a billion?
Short scale: 9 zeros (1,000,000,000). Long scale: 12
zeros (1,000,000,000,000). The US uses short scale.
What is the difference between short and long scale?
Short scale: Each name is 1000× larger (million→billion→trillion).
Long scale: Each name is 1,000,000× larger. Same words, different values!
What is a quadrillion?
10¹⁵ = 1,000 trillion in short scale. 15 zeros. Example: US
national debt is several tens of trillions, not yet quadrillion.
What is a quintillion?
10¹⁸ in short scale. 18 zeros. Grains of sand on Earth ≈ 7.5 ×
10¹⁸ (about 7.5 quintillion).
What is a googol?
10¹⁰⁰ — 1 followed by 100 zeros. Larger than atoms in observable
universe (~10⁸⁰). Term coined in 1920; Google named after it (spelled differently).
What is a googolplex?
10^(10¹⁰⁰) — 1 followed by a googol zeros. Impossible to write out
— more digits than particles in universe. Concept shows limits of numbers.
What is the largest named number?
Commonly used: centillion (10³⁰³ short, 10⁶⁰⁰ long). Googolplex is
larger but informal. Graham's number, TREE(3) are mathematically larger but impractical.
Which countries use short scale?
US, UK (since 1974), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland,
Brazil, and most English-speaking countries. Scientific usage is typically short scale.
Which countries use long scale?
France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland,
and many European countries. Some use "milliard" for 10⁹.
Why does UK use short scale now?
Changed in 1974 to align with US for international business and
finance. British billion (long scale) = 10¹² became American billion = 10⁹.
What is a milliard?
10⁹ — used in some long scale countries for what short scale calls
"billion". Milliard fills the gap since long scale billion = 10¹².
How does Indian numbering work?
Different groupings: 1,00,000 = 1 lakh (10⁵). 1,00,00,000 = 1
crore (10⁷). Groups of 2 after first 3. Not short or long scale.
How do East Asian numbers work?
Groups of 4: 万 = 10⁴ (wan/man). 億 = 10⁸ (yi/oku). 兆 = 10¹²
(zhao/cho). Different character for each power of 10,000.
Is there a number bigger than googolplex?
Yes! Graham's number, TREE(3), Rayo's number. These arise in
mathematics and are incomprehensibly larger than googolplex.
How do I read large numbers?
Group by threes (short scale). 1,234,567,890 = 1 billion, 234
million, 567 thousand, 890. Use commas or spaces for clarity.
