Here’s some interesting facts about the word “googol” which is unlike the company “Google” we are all so familiar with.
A googol is the number 10100 (or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). The word googol was first used by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta, nephew of U.S. mathematician Edward Kasner. Sirotta made this word in 1938, for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. It is said that the word “googol” was chosen to represent this number because it sounded like baby talk. The company Google was named after the number “googol”. It was named this because it was said that not only did google sound like googol, but Google had a googol search results.
Googol Facts For Kids, https://kids.kiddle.co/
Sounds like some strange animal or a creature from outer space, doesn’t it? But it’s neither of them. A googol is a number, a very large number. You are probably familiar with numbers such as:
What is a googol? https://zippyfacts.com/what-is-a-googol/
1 + 6 zeroes = 1,000,000, one million
1 + 9 zeroes = 1,000,000,000, one billion
1 + 12 zeroes = 1,000,000,000,000, one trillion
1 + 15 zeroes = 1,000,000,000,000,000, one quadrillion.
But did you know that there are names for numbers larger than these?
1 + 18 zeroes = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000, one quintillion
1 + 21 zeroes = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, one sextillion
1 + 24 zeroes = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, one septillion
1 + 27 zeroes = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, one octillion
1 + 30 zeroes = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, one nonillion.
The largest number with a name, however, is a 1 followed by 100 zeroes. That is a googol. It was named by the 9-year old nephew of a mathematician, who was explaining to the boy what that 1 with 100 zeroes after it looked like. When he asked the boy what that number should be called, the boy answered, a “googol.” And that name stuck!
This is what a googol looks like.
100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
William Pardon Tankerfield the Third was mighty smart, wishing for a Googol of Wishes! Or did he have another thought in mind? How do you think this turns out? This is a fun bedtime adventure for kids, parents and grandparents alike.
More interesting facts are found here.
