Million, Billion and Trillion

We started learning about numbers from a very young age. We studied how to read numbers from 0 to 100 in Class 1. Later, numbers above thousands and lakhs came into the picture in the coming classes. When we hear about large numbers in our day-to-day life, especially in the case of talking about the annual budget allocated in the parliament or about the money invested by multinational companies, we use millions, billions, or trillions. It is common for people to find it difficult to write the number of zeros in a million and billion. So, we will learn in detail about millions, billions, trillions, and much more terms. Also, we will see how to write numerically these numbers and how many zeros are in a quintillion, and so on. So, let us start then.

Indian Numeral System

Indian numerical is commonly used in the Indian subcontinent. Countries like India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Maldives use the Indian numeral system. Large numbers are expressed in lakhs, ten lakhs, crores, ten crores, etc., in the Indian numeral system. One lakh is equal to a hundred thousand and one crore is equal to a hundred lakhs. Now, let us see the number of zeros in one lakh, ten lakhs, and one crore. 

• 1 lakh = 1,00,000

• 10 lakhs = 10,00,000

• 1 crore = 100 lakhs = 1,00,00,000

You can see that there are five zeros in one lakh, six zeros in ten lakhs, and seven zeros in one crore. After one crore comes the ten crores, hundred crores, and so on. In the Indian numeral system, first, three zeros are grouped and then every preceding two zeros are grouped using commas. The International numeral system is used all over the world. So, we have to learn how to express large numbers in the international numeral system.

International Numeral System

The International Numeral System is widely used around the world in many countries. To express large numbers in the International Number System, we use millions, billions, trillions, and so on. Basically, the International Number System is divided into different periods like one, thousand, million, billion, trillion, etc. Each period is again divided into three subgroups. Let us discuss the periods of the International Numeral System first.

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Periods in International Numeral System

• One Period: One period is divided into three subgroups. They are ones, tens, and hundreds. If we begin from the right side, the first three digits come under one period. So, we put a comma on the left side of one period.

• Thousand Periods: A thousand period is divided into three subgroups. They are thousands, ten thousand, and hundred thousand. Three digits to the left of one period come under the thousand period.

• Million Periods: Million period is divided into three subgroups. They are million, ten million, and hundred million. Three digits to the left of the thousand periods come under the million period.

• Billion Periods: Billion period is divided into three subgroups. They are billion, ten billion, and hundred billion. Three digits to the left of the million periods come under the billion period.

Zeroes in Million, Billion, and Trillion

Consider writing a digit 1. 1 is the smallest non-zero one-digit number you can write. Now put a zero to the right side of the digit 1. Then the number becomes 10. Again put a zero to the number, then you will get 100. As you put zeros to the right side of it, the number becomes a thousand, ten thousand, and so on. Therefore, the number of zeros in a number has significance while counting a large number like a million and a trillion.

In the International Numeral System, zeros in each period are grouped together using commas. Therefore, it is easy to write and identify millions, billions, trillions, etc. For example, if there is only a group of three zeros after 1, then it is a thousand. If there are two groups of three zeros after digit 1, then it is a million. If there are three groups of three zeros after the digit 1, then it is a billion, and so on. Now, let us see the table containing million, billion, trillion starting from ten and the number of zeros contained in it. 

As you can see, there are three zeros in thousand, six zeros in a million, nine zeros in a billion, and twelve zeros in a trillion. Very large numbers are expressed in quadrillion and quintillion. Now, you understand how easy it is to write millions, billions, and trillions because you only have to add three zeros to a thousand to get a million and add three zeros to a million to get a billion, and so on. 

Now, you will easily remember the number of zeros in a million and billion and the relation between billion and trillion.

Conclusion

In the International Numeral System, which is widely followed in many countries, millions, billions, and trillions are used to express large numbers. Even though this number system is not common in India and other countries in the Indian subcontinent, it is really important to familiarise yourself with millions, billions, trillions, etc., due to the fact that it is widely used all over the world. In this number system, three zeros are grouped together by putting a comma.