Can someone explain to me what is wrong with this math equation or why I just can't wrap my brain

[Maraya1969]

around it? Some conservative was trying to prove the point of how big a trillion was and he used this math equation.

"To put a trillion dollars into perspective; 1 billion seconds = 32 years. 1 Trillion seconds = 32,000 years. We talk of trillions like they are billions, how crazy is that?"

Now this just runs contrary to my senses that a billion seconds would be 32 years and yet a trillion seconds would be 32,000 years!

Anyone want to explain why I am having a problem with this or is the problem wrong? I did bring up the fact that that he was using seconds which turned into minutes that turned into hours and then he said.

"Here is the math exercise....60 seconds in a min X 60 mins in an hour X 24 hours in a day X 365 days in year X 32,000 years = 1 trillion seconds"

[jehop61]

1. Haven't you noticed

the Republicans always attempt to confuse any issue by citing lots and lots of numbers in their argument. It's a ploy to sound intelligent and act like they know what their talking about. Don't try to understand their math and logic, it's phony!

[CBGLuthier]

4. the logic may be phony, but the math is not

[joshcryer]

16. The key is, if you actually do the numbers in real world terms...

...as opposed to meaningless thought exercises, you find interesting results.

For example, the US spends 10% less than other developed nations on its people: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending#Government_spending_as_a_percentage_of_GDP

[LiberalFighter]

28. Those are the type of numbers we need.

Also, the numbers to shut down the need for smaller government.

[Brickbat]

2. Don't use your senses.

Use math. A trillion is a thousand billions.

[CBGLuthier]

3. one trillion is 1000 times more than one billion

in the US anyway.
60*60*24*365*32 is a little more than a billion. 1,009,152,000

a trillion is 1,000 times that so yes, 32,000 years is close enough. For government work anyway.

[Maraya1969]

20. I see the problem. You need to add 3 zeros to the 32

There is something about this math equation that is a trick question. Remember when we were told to check our work to make sure it made sense. To think that none of us will never live a thousand billion seconds just does not make sense to me.

[hobbit709]

5. a trillion is a 1000 billion.

what happens when you multiply by a thousand.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Ask him to explain a brazillion

[madokie]

7. LOL n/t

[JHB]

8. ...preferably while dancing a samba

[joshcryer]

15. That's tiny!

Itty bitty!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham's_number

[pinboy3niner]

23. I know the answer to Graham's Number

But I don't have time to tell you.

[joshcryer]

24. Hahaha

It's the ultimate question isn't it...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

9. not really sure where the problem lies

as the math is about right...

sP

[Fumesucker]

10. A trillion here, a trillion there..

Pretty soon you're talking real money.

h/t Everett Dirksen..

[JVS]

11. Wait

"Now this just runs contrary to my senses that a billion seconds would be 32 years and yet a trillion seconds would be 32,000 years!"

Isn't that what he just said?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

14. i think that is the confusion of the OP

the math whiz from the quotes got it right...

sP

[libtodeath]

12. Ask him if he cared when shrub was throwing billions into stupid wars that we couldnt win or had

purpose to to begin with.

[joshcryer]

13. Get out your calculator! :)

Do the equation, count the zeros.

He's right, but it's a rather meaningless exercise.

The GDP of the planet is $63 trillion. The US Federal budget is only about 6% of global GDP. The US military budget is 1% of global GDP.

Of the US budget only $650 billion or so is actually discretionary if you exclude the Department of Defense which itself is close to $700 billion.

Yes, that's right, outside of mandatory spending which pays for itself (Medicare, Social Security), stuff like welfare, national science foundation, and the like, we spend more on military spending than anything else.

And it gets even more interesting when you think that, out of all that spending, the United States accounts for a whole 23% of the ENTIRE EARTHS GDP.

Basically the guy is telling you we should become developing world level of development again.

And in truth, that's what they want.

[izquierdista]

26. Yet.....

If someone in the neighborhood had no health insurance for his family, the kids went hungry, he couldn't keep the bill collectors at bay, but he kept spending 15% of his salary at the local gun store and kept giving another big chunk of change to the richest man in town (the evangelist at the mega-church), the rest of the neighbors would think he needs to be committed.

[Ilsa]

17. Trying to put it in perspective?

How does converting dollars to time do that at only a penny per second? Wouldn't at least minimum wage work better to grapple with the relationship between dollars and time?

Or why not use distance? Not a trillion miles, but a trillion feet, or inches? It's such a bogus comparison, IMO.

[jberryhill]

18. This seems to be your problem...

"Now this just runs contrary to my senses that a billion seconds would be 32 years and yet a trillion seconds would be 32,000 years!"

A trillion is a thousand billion, so if a billion years is X seconds, then a trillion years is X thousand seconds.

[Maraya1969]

19. I just looked it up on Google and got this answer

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_seconds_is_a_thousand_years

If we assume that the first year is a leap year, then there will be 242 leap years in those 1000 years, and 758 non-leap years (leap years happen every 4 years, but do not happen every 100 years - only every 400 years).


So the total seconds in leap years:
60*60*24*366*242 = 7,652,620,800


And for non-leap years:
60*60*24*365*758 = 23,904,288,000


Giving a total of:
31556908800 (3.15569088 x 1010) seconds in 1000 years

So it is no where near 32,000 years. You hit a trillion in a thousand years.

[Scuba]

21. Sorry, no. That's only 31 billion (plus a few) in a thousand years.

[lumberjack_jeff]

30. There are 365.25 days in a solar year.

60*60*24*365.25 = 31.5 million seconds per year.
1*10^9 (billion) / 31.5 *10^6 (million) = 31.7 years.
one trillion is 1000 billion, so 31,700 years for one trillion seconds.

[Gman]

22. You just add 3 zeros

Close enough for government work.

[Egalitarian Thug]

25. I think your problem is universal. No matter how it is expressed, the human mind cannot comprehend

the reality of a billion. It is an abstract and so we quickly lose the scale.

I had a chemistry Professor that tried to give us some sense of this by showing us 1 million, 1mm squares. The banner required 2 students to carry out and unfold and it covered the whole front wall of the lab.

A billion is a thousand of those, and so on.

[HopeHoops]

27. The answer is 42.

[GeorgeGist]

29. If you talk of trillions like they are billions ...

then you are seriously math challenged.