Math Is Fun Forum

bossk171

Member

Registered: 2007-07-16

Posts: 305

Googol

I'm teaching an accelerated math class of 9 sixth graders. Today we talked a little bit about googol and googolplex, but I wanted to follow up with something else next week. So i've googled googol and looked at the info, but I can't find anything about practical or mathematical applications.

Does googol have a purpose or is it just interesting because it's so big? It seems odd that in popular culture it's better known than e but has less of an impact on mathematics and the world in general.

So I guess my question is, "why do I care about googol?"

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There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary, those who don't, and those who can use induction.

Jai Ganesh

Administrator

Registered: 2005-06-28

Posts: 46,189

Re: Googol

Here are two links you may be interested in, which may probably answer your question. The first one is a thread started in this forum Link 1.
The second one is on large Numbers.

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It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.

Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.