Need help articulating a number

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-08-07 05:22am

For a science story I'm working on, I need to articulate an event which generates 10^52 ergs, which is 10^45 joules. The largest SI prefix I know (The largest I think exists) is 'Yotta-' at 10^24. If I were to express the event in terms of Yotta- or gigga-joules, How many would it be (I.E. 100 quadrillion yotta-joules).

I'm sorry if its a stupid question; its something I should be able to do but I keep fouling up the conversions.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-08-07 05:24am

Poor edit:

Alternatively, I could use one of the proposed Non-SI Prefixes, but I don't know if they have ever been used in actual science or real-world applications.

Winston Blake · Post by **Winston Blake** » 2007-08-07 07:36am

I come up with 1 sextillion yottajoules.

Or ten foes.

B5B7 · Post by **B5B7** » 2007-08-07 07:41am

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with using non-official units. However, I find the suggested names not very cool.
Howabout using 'Yotta squared' as a unit = 10^48? Could maybe call it square Yottas.
The 'foe' suggestion also sounds alright - seems it could be the solution.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2007-08-07 08:17am

1e45 J = 1e33 TJ = 1 billion trillion trillion TJ, I believe.

General Trelane (Retired) · Post by **General Trelane (Retired)** » 2007-08-07 10:54am

Surlethe wrote:1e45 J = 1e33 TJ = 1 billion trillion trillion TJ, I believe.

But the meaning of "billion" is not standardized. While the North American meaning (thousand million) is taking over, it still means something different (million million) in a significant portion of the world.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2007-08-07 11:15am

General Trelane (Retired) wrote:
Surlethe wrote:1e45 J = 1e33 TJ = 1 billion trillion trillion TJ, I believe.
But the meaning of "billion" is not standardized. While the North American meaning (thousand million) is taking over, it still means something different (million million) in a significant portion of the world.

Okay, then 1 thousand million trillion trillion TJ.

Ariphaos · Post by **Ariphaos** » 2007-08-07 01:25pm

Surlethe wrote:Okay, then 1 thousand million trillion trillion TJ.

Trillion has a long count value to (1e18). Same with quadrillion (1e24), etc.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2007-08-07 01:48pm

Xeriar wrote:Trillion has a long count value to (1e18). Same with quadrillion (1e24), etc.

So billion isn't the only order of magnitude name there's multiple uses of? That I did not know. How about 1 thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand TJ then? There shouldn't be much confusion over that.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-08-07 03:37pm

Winston Blake wrote:I come up with 1 sextillion yottajoules.

Or ten foes.

Thank you! I had never heard of a 'foe' as a unit of energy.

Ariphaos · Post by **Ariphaos** » 2007-08-07 06:39pm

Surlethe wrote:So billion isn't the only order of magnitude name there's multiple uses of? That I did not know. How about 1 thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand TJ then? There shouldn't be much confusion over that.

A billion short count = milliard long count
A trillion short count = billion long count
Quadrillion short count = billiard long count

...etc.

You can use millions, but I have met people who would still lose count. Yottajoules being a million million joules would help.

Winston Blake · Post by **Winston Blake** » 2007-08-07 06:48pm

B5B7 wrote:However, I find the suggested names not very cool.

'Sextillion yottajoules' isn't cool? It sounds like the latest in clit-tickling technology.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2007-08-07 08:51pm

Winston Blake wrote:
B5B7 wrote:However, I find the suggested names not very cool.
'Sextillion yottajoules' isn't cool? It sounds like the latest in clit-tickling technology.

I think he meant my 'non-SI-prefixes' link.

B5B7 · Post by **B5B7** » 2007-08-07 10:19pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:
Winston Blake wrote:
B5B7 wrote:However, I find the suggested names not very cool.
'Sextillion yottajoules' isn't cool? It sounds like the latest in clit-tickling technology.
I think he meant my 'non-SI-prefixes' link.

Yes, I did mean those non-SI prefixes. Many of them are quite ugly.

General Trelane (Retired) · Post by **General Trelane (Retired)** » 2007-08-08 04:50pm

B5B7 wrote:Yes, I did mean those non-SI prefixes. Many of them are quite ugly.

Yes, quite. And unruly too.

Personally, I like the suggestion of using foe. I hadn't heard of it before either, but it follows the established practise in engineering and science of defining a unit of convenience. Other examples include the bar (1 bar = 100 kPa) and the Astronomical Unit (1 AU ~ 150E6 km), so something like the foe makes perfect sense (and you don't even have to make it up!).

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2007-08-08 05:11pm

Surlethe wrote:So billion isn't the only order of magnitude name there's multiple uses of? That I did not know. How about 1 thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand TJ then? There shouldn't be much confusion over that.

Using the long count system, which I regard as inherently superior, the prefix tells you the power of the million. A billion is a million squared, a trillion is a million cubed, a sextillion is a million to the sixth power, and so on and so forth.