How to Convert Millions, Billions, and Trillions Easily
A trillion is a number with two different definitions.
1 million million i.e.1,000,000,000,000 or 10¹² is defined as the short-scale trillion. This is the meaning of trillion in both American and British English.
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 10¹⁸ is larger than the short scale trillion.The long scale trillion is one million times larger than the short scale trillion. This is the historical meaning of trillion in English and presently used in different non-speaking English countries where trillion and billion maintain their long-scale definitions.
In the American system, 1 trillion equals a thousand thousand millions, or 10 to the 12th, whereas In the British system, 1 trillion equals a million million millions, or 10 to the 18th . Although, The American system has been common in both the United States and Britain, and the American definitions are gaining acceptance nowadays. However, the historical geographic distinctions are also needed to be considered. This has aided in the constitution of “trillion” for the purpose of development of standardization of terminology for representing large numbers in simpler and more logical form than the American one.
How Much is One Trillion?
One trillion dollars is equivalent to a thousand billion, or million dollars multiplied by millions. A trillion is a 1 with 12 zeros after it, represented as 1,000,000,000,000 or 10¹².
A million can be denoted as 106, or 1,000,000, and a billion can be denoted as 1 thousand million, or 1,000,000,000 (109).
The word billion has been derived from the French word bi- (“two”) + -illion; i.e. a million million. It was first originated by Jehan Adam in 1475 as by-million and later it was rendered as byllion by Nicolas Chuquet in 1484.
The word Million originated from the Italian milione, from the Latin mille + the augmentative suffix -one.
For instance, A billion seconds would amount to 32 years, and a trillion seconds would amount to 32,000 years.
How Many Billions Make a Trillion?
The answer to the question “ How Many Billions Make A Trillion” depends on the place where you live.
(In the US, Modern British and Australian, short scale) , one thousand billion makes one trillion, represented as 1,000,000,000,000 or 10¹².
(In Older British, Australian, long scale), one million billion makes one trillion, represented as 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 10¹⁸.
A British trillion used to be equivalent to one million American trillions, but now both are mostly similar.
How Many Millions in One Trillion?
One trillion dollars is defined as one million dollars multiplied by a million, or one million million makes one trillion.
Examples:
Earth is about a trillion meters far from the Moon
The Galaxy contains about a trillion stars
There are around 3 trillion trees on Earth
The human body contains around 90 trillion bacteria and around 100 trillion cells.
There are about 3 trillion different fishes in the ocean
A terameter is a trillion meters, where the prefix "tera-" means a trillion.
Suppose a cube is made of a million smaller cubes. If each of the small cubes is worth a million dollars, then the whole cube is worth a trillion dollars.
How to Convert Million to Trillion?
The formula to convert million to trillion is:
1 Million = 1E - 06 Trillion
Accordingly, we can convert millions to trillions by multiplying the value given in million by 1.0E - 06. For example, to convert 5 million to trillions, the calculation is
5 Million = 5 1.0E - 06 or 5E - 6 trillion
Therefore, 5 million is equal to 5.0E - 6 trillion.
How to Convert Trillion to Million?
The formula to convert trillion to million:
1 Trillion = 1000000 Millions
Accordingly, we can convert a trillion to a million by multiplying the value given in trillion by 1000000. For example, to convert 5 trillion to a million, the calculation is
5 Trillion = 5 x1000000 or 5000000 million
Therefore, 5 trillion equals 5000000 million.
How to Convert Billion to Trillion?
The formula to convert billion to trillion is:
1 Billion = 0.0001 Trillion
Accordingly, we can convert a billion to a trillion by multiplying the value given in a billion by 0.0001. For example, to convert 5 billion to trillion, the calculation is
5 Billion = 5x0.0001 or 0.0005 trillion
Therefore, 5 billion is equal to 0.0005 trillion.
How to Convert Trillion to Billion?
The formula to convert trillion to billion is:
1 trillion = 1000 billion
Accordingly, we can convert trillion to billion by multiplying the value given in trillion by 1000. For example, to convert 5 trillion to a billion, the calculation is
5 Trillion = 5 1000 or 5000 billion
Therefore, 5 trillion is equal to 5000 billion.
Other Large Numbers
Million=1,000,000
Billion=1,000,000,000
Trillion=1,000,000,000,000
Quintillion=1,000,000,000,000,000,000
Sextillion=1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Nonillion=1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
CENTILLION=1 followed by 303 zeros
Solved Examples
1. Convert 7 Million to Trillions
The formula to convert million to trillion is:
1 Million = 1E - 06 Trillion
Accordingly,
7 Million = 7 1E - 06 = 7.0E - 6 Trillion
Therefore, 7 million is equal to 7.0E - 6 trillion
2. Convert 7 Trillion to Million
The formula to convert trillions to millions:
1 Trillion = 1000000 Millions
Accordingly,
7 Trillions = 7 x1000000 or 7000000 million
Therefore, 7 trillion is equal to 7000000 million.
3. Convert 9 Billions to Trillions
The formula to convert billion to trillion is:
1 Billion = 0.0001 Trillion
Accordingly,
9 Billions = 9x0.0001 or 0.0009 trillion
Therefore, 9 billion is equal to 0.0009 trillion
4. Convert 9 Trillion to Billions
The formula to convert trillion to billion is:
1 trillion = 1000 billion
Accordingly,
9 Trillions = 9x1000 or 9000 billion
Therefore, 9 trillion is equal to 9000 billion.
Fun Facts
One million seconds is about 11 and a half seconds.
FAQs on What Is a Trillion? Definition & Key Maths Facts
1. What exactly is one trillion and how is it written in numbers?
One trillion is a whole number equivalent to a million million. In the International Numbering System, it is represented by a 1 followed by 12 zeros. It is written as 1,000,000,000,000. In terms of powers of 10, a trillion is expressed as 10¹².
2. How many millions or billions make up one trillion?
To understand the scale of a trillion, it's helpful to relate it to smaller large numbers like million and billion. The relationship is as follows:
- There are one thousand billion in one trillion (1,000 × 1,000,000,000).
- There are one million million in one trillion (1,000,000 × 1,000,000).
3. How is one trillion expressed in the Indian numbering system of lakhs and crores?
In the Indian numbering system, which uses groups of two digits after the first three, one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) is equivalent to one lakh crore. This can also be stated as one hundred thousand crores (1,00,000 crores). It is written numerically as 10,00,00,00,00,000.
4. How can the enormous size of a trillion be better understood with a real-world example?
The sheer magnitude of a trillion is difficult to grasp. Consider this example: if you were to count nonstop at a rate of one number per second, it would take approximately 31,710 years to count to one trillion. This illustrates how much larger a trillion is compared to a billion (which would take about 31.7 years) or a million (about 11.5 days).
5. Why are such large numbers as trillions important in school subjects beyond Maths?
Large numbers like a trillion are essential for quantifying concepts on a massive scale across different fields of study. For instance:
- In Economics, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and national debts of major countries are measured in trillions.
- In Science and Astronomy, trillions are used to describe vast distances, like the number of kilometres in a light-year, or to estimate the number of cells in the human body.
- In Computer Science, data storage is quickly approaching terabytes (trillions of bytes) and beyond for large-scale systems.
6. Is a 'trillion' defined the same way everywhere in the world?
No, there are historically two main systems. The one used in the CBSE/NCERT curriculum and most of the world today is the short scale, where a trillion is a thousand billion (10¹²). However, there is also a long scale, historically used in some European countries, where a billion means a million million (10¹²) and a trillion means a million billion (10¹⁸). It is important to know that the common international standard now is the short scale definition.
