From one to one trillion
1 000 000 000 000
This unit can be taught in the early grades, but it requires a scientific calculator. We use here the TI-34 II.
|
Common name: |
Decimal: |
Scientific notation: |
|
one |
1 |
E0 |
|
one thousand |
1,000 |
E3 |
|
one million |
1,000,000 |
E6 |
|
one billion |
1,000,000,000 |
E9 |
|
one trillion |
1,000,000,000,000 |
E12 |
In scientific notation E12 means 1012 (10 to the 12th power), or simply 1 followed by 12 zeros. Use the EE-key to enter numbers in scientific notation. The calculator converts each of them to decimals, except for one trillion, which has too many digits.
Question: How long does one trillion seconds last? (measured in years or centuries)
Let’s start with 1000 seconds and build from there.
One thousand seconds
Conversion to minutes and seconds
1000 seconds/60 seconds/minute
On the calculator:
E3/60 ENTER 16.666666667
16 minutes 40 seconds
(.666666667 is 2/3 of a minute, namely, 40 seconds)
One million seconds
Conversion to days and hours
1000000 seconds/60 seconds/minute/60 minutes/hour/24 hours/day
E6/60/60/24 ENTER 11.57407407
(Ans-11)*24 ENTER 13.77777778
11 days 14 hours (rounded to the nearest hour)
Remark.
Do not write this expression as EE6/(60*60*24). Students need to learn how to use chain division. Use the up arrow and edit to get the next expression.
One billion seconds
Conversion to years and months
1000000000 seconds/60 seconds/minute/60 minutes/hour/24 hours/day/365 days/year
E9/60/60/24/365 ENTER 31.70979198
(Ans-31)*12 ENTER 8.517503805
31 years and 9 months
One trillion seconds
1000000000000 seconds/60 seconds/minute/60 minutes/hour/24 hours/day/365 days/year
Rounded to one hundred years
E12/60/60/24/365 ENTER 31709.79198
31 thousand 7 hundred years.
Or, if we want the time in centuries,
Ans/100 ENTER 317.0979198
317.0979198
317 centuries and 10 years.
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developed by Aous Manshad
Last Modified: August 11, 2009