Starting small

Numbers in the physical world (orders of magnitude)

Number living humans 7 * 10^9 (billions)

Number of stars in the Milky Way 10^11 (100 billions)

US national debt 10^13 (tens of trillions)

Number of ants on the Earth 10^15

Seconds since the big bang 10^17

Starting small 10^9 Here we have the number of seconds in a century (about 3 billion), 10^11 the number of galaxies in the observable universe (100-400 billion) 10^13 also the US nominal GDP in 2013. 10^15 quadrillion Lake Superior contains 4 quadrillion gallons of fresh water, approx. 10% of all the fresh water on Earth. The total economic production of the human race so far has been 2 quadrillion dollars . 10^17 = 100 quadrillion Numbers in the physical world (orders of magnitude) Number living humans 7 * 10^9 (billions) Number of stars in the Milky Way 10^11 (100 billions) US national debt 10^13 (tens of trillions) Number of ants on the Earth 10^15 Seconds since the big bang 10^17