How Big is a Googol? Definition and Example

How big is a googol? A googol, also called ten-duotrigintillion, is a very big number that is equal to 1 followed by 100 zeros as shown below.

In scientific notation, a googol can be written as 10¹⁰⁰

We can use commas to make the googol number a little easier to read.

How big is a googol in terms of what we already know? Putting the size of a googol into perspective

1 googol = 10¹⁰ × 10¹⁰ × 10¹⁰ × 10¹⁰ × 10¹⁰  × 10¹⁰  × 10¹⁰  × 10¹⁰  × 10¹⁰  × 10¹⁰

1 googol = ten billion × ten billion × ten billion × ten billion × ten billion × ten billion × ten billion × ten billion × ten billion × ten billion

1 googol = 10²⁰ × 10²⁰ × 10²⁰ × 10²⁰ × 10²⁰

Notice that 10²⁰ = 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 = 100 × 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 = 100 × 1 quintillion

Therefore, 1 googol = one hundred quintillion × one hundred  quintillion × one hundred quintillion × one hundred quintillion × one hundred quintillion

Who invented the term googol?

The googol number was chosen or invented by the nephew of the American mathematician Edward Kasner. In the late 1930s, as Edward Kasner was working with large numbers, he asked his nine years old nephew Milton Sirotta what he might call the number 10¹⁰⁰. Milton Sirotta named it googol!