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Millions and Billions: How Big is That?
Comprehending Large Numbers
Some things are measured in millions and billions. There are millions of milesbetween the earth and the sun, and millions of stars in the sky. New movies oftensell millions of dollars in tickets during their first week at a theater. Dinosaursroamed the earth millions of years ago. Our planet is billions of years old. Lawmakerswork with budgets of millions or billions of dollars. The population of a large cityor small country may be millions, while the population of the world is billions.In these activities, students explore the difference between a million and a billion.
How Much Is a Million? A Billion?
Imagine someone gave you a million dollars and told you to spend $1,000 every dayand come back when you ran out of money. You would return, with no money left, inthree years. If someone then gave you a billion dollars and you spent $1,000 eachday, you would be spending for about 2,740 years before you went broke.
How many dollar bills does it take to make a stack 1 inch high? Well, we'll giveyou the answer: 100 dollar bills. That means a $1,000 stack is 10 inches high. Sincea million is a thousand thousand, a million dollar bills would make a stack10,000 inches high. How many feet high would that be?
A billion is a thousand million. A billion dollar bils would be 10,000,000 incheshigh. How many miles would that be?
Try This!- How many days old would you be if you were a million seconds old? (HINT: Beginby figuring the number of seconds in one day, or 24 hours.)
- If you could choose between 1 million dollars and 1 billion dollars and weretold you had to spend $1,000 every day until you ran out of money, which amout wouldyou choose? Why?
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