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This is a list of notable
number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
s and articles about
notable Notability is the property of being worthy of notice, having fame, or being considered to be of a high degree of interest, significance, or distinction. It also refers to the capacity to be such. Persons who are notable due to public responsibi ...
numbers. The list does not contain all numbers in existence as most of the number sets are infinite. Numbers may be included in the list based on their mathematical, historical or cultural notability, but all numbers have qualities which could arguably make them notable. Even the smallest "uninteresting" number is paradoxically interesting for that very property. This is known as the
interesting number paradox The interesting number paradox is a humorous paradox which arises from the attempt to classify every natural number as either "interesting" or "uninteresting". The paradox states that every natural number is interesting. The "proof" is by contrad ...
. The definition of what is classed as a number is rather diffuse and based on historical distinctions. For example, the pair of numbers (3,4) is commonly regarded as a number when it is in the form of a complex number (3+4i), but not when it is in the form of a
vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...
(3,4). This list will also be categorised with the standard convention of types of numbers. This list focuses on numbers as
mathematical objects A mathematical object is an abstract concept arising in mathematics. In the usual language of mathematics, an ''object'' is anything that has been (or could be) formally defined, and with which one may do deductive reasoning and mathematical ...
and is ''not'' a list of
numerals A numeral is a figure, symbol, or group of figures or symbols denoting a number. It may refer to: * Numeral system used in mathematics * Numeral (linguistics), a part of speech denoting numbers (e.g. ''one'' and ''first'' in English) * Numerical d ...
, which are linguistic devices: nouns, adjectives, or adverbs that ''designate'' numbers. The distinction is drawn between the ''number'' five (an
abstract object In metaphysics, the distinction between abstract and concrete refers to a divide between two types of entities. Many philosophers hold that this difference has fundamental metaphysical significance. Examples of concrete objects include plants, hum ...
equal to 2+3), and the ''numeral'' five (the
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
referring to the number).


Natural numbers

The natural numbers are a subset of the integers and are of historical and pedagogical value as they can be used for counting and often have ethno-cultural significance (see below). Beyond this, natural numbers are widely used as a building block for other number systems including the
integers An integer is the number zero (), a positive natural number (, , , etc.) or a negative integer with a minus sign ( −1, −2, −3, etc.). The negative numbers are the additive inverses of the corresponding positive numbers. In the languag ...
,
rational numbers In mathematics, a rational number is a number that can be expressed as the quotient or fraction of two integers, a numerator and a non-zero denominator . For example, is a rational number, as is every integer (e.g. ). The set of all rat ...
and
real numbers In mathematics, a real number is a number that can be used to measure a ''continuous'' one-dimensional quantity such as a distance, duration or temperature. Here, ''continuous'' means that values can have arbitrarily small variations. Every ...
. Natural numbers are those used for counting (as in "there are ''six'' (6) coins on the table") and ordering (as in "this is the ''third'' (3rd) largest city in the country"). In common language, words used for counting are " cardinal numbers" and words used for ordering are "
ordinal numbers In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets. A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the least ...
". Defined by the
Peano axioms In mathematical logic, the Peano axioms, also known as the Dedekind–Peano axioms or the Peano postulates, are axioms for the natural numbers presented by the 19th century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano. These axioms have been used nearly ...
, the natural numbers form an infinitely large set. Often referred to as "the naturals", the natural numbers are usually symbolised by a boldface (or blackboard bold \mathbb, Unicode )''.'' The inclusion of 0 in the set of natural numbers is ambiguous and subject to individual definitions. In
set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly concer ...
and computer science, 0 is typically considered a natural number. In
number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Mathe ...
, it usually is not. The ambiguity can be solved with the terms "non-negative integers", which includes 0, and "positive integers", which does not. Natural numbers may be used as cardinal numbers, which may go by various names. Natural numbers may also be used as
ordinal numbers In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets. A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the least ...
.


Mathematical significance

Natural numbers may have properties specific to the individual number or may be part of a set (such as prime numbers) of numbers with a particular property.


Cultural or practical significance

Along with their mathematical properties, many integers have cultural significance or are also notable for their use in computing and measurement. As mathematical properties (such as divisibility) can confer practical utility, there may be interplay and connections between the cultural or practical significance of an integer and its mathematical properties.


Classes of natural numbers

Subsets of the natural numbers, such as the prime numbers, may be grouped into sets, for instance based on the divisibility of their members. Infinitely many such sets are possible. A list of notable classes of natural numbers may be found at classes of natural numbers.


Prime numbers

A prime number is a positive integer which has exactly two
divisor In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer m that may be multiplied by some integer to produce n. In this case, one also says that n is a multiple of m. An integer n is divisible or evenly divisible by ...
s: 1 and itself. The first 100 prime numbers are:


Highly composite numbers

A highly composite number (HCN) is a positive integer with more divisors than any smaller positive integer. They are often used in
geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...
, grouping and time measurement. The first 20 highly composite numbers are: 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60,
120 120 may refer to: *120 (number), the number * AD 120, a year in the 2nd century AD *120 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *120 film, a film format for still photography * ''120'' (film), a 2008 film * 120 (MBTA bus) * 120 (New Jersey bus) * 120 (Ken ...
, 180, 240, 360, 720,
840 __NOTOC__ Year 840 ( DCCCXL) was a leap year starting on Thursday in the Julian calendar, the 840th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 840th year of the 1st millennium, the 40th year of the 9th century, and the 1 ...
, 1260,
1680 Events January–March * January 2 – King Amangkurat II of Mataram (located on the island of Java, part of modern-day Indonesia), invites Trunajaya, who had led a failed rebellion against him until his surrender on December ...
, 2520, 5040, 7560


Perfect numbers

A perfect number is an integer that is the sum of its positive proper divisors (all divisors except itself). The first 10 perfect numbers:


Integers

The integers are a set of numbers commonly encountered in arithmetic and
number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Mathe ...
. There are many
subsets In mathematics, set ''A'' is a subset of a set ''B'' if all elements of ''A'' are also elements of ''B''; ''B'' is then a superset of ''A''. It is possible for ''A'' and ''B'' to be equal; if they are unequal, then ''A'' is a proper subset o ...
of the integers, including the
natural numbers In mathematics, the natural numbers are those numbers used for counting (as in "there are ''six'' coins on the table") and ordering (as in "this is the ''third'' largest city in the country"). Numbers used for counting are called ''cardinal n ...
,
prime numbers A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
,
perfect numbers In number theory, a perfect number is a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its positive divisors, excluding the number itself. For instance, 6 has divisors 1, 2 and 3 (excluding itself), and 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, so 6 is a perfect number. ...
, etc. Many integers are notable for their mathematical properties. Integers are usually symbolised by a boldface (or blackboard bold \mathbb, Unicode ); this became the symbol for the integers based on the German word for "numbers" (''
Zahlen An integer is the number zero (), a positive natural number (, , , etc.) or a negative integer with a minus sign ( −1, −2, −3, etc.). The negative numbers are the additive inverses of the corresponding positive numbers. In the language ...
).'' Notable integers include
−1 In mathematics, −1 (also known as negative one or minus one) is the additive inverse of 1, that is, the number that when added to 1 gives the additive identity element, 0. It is the negative integer greater than negative two (−2) and less t ...
, the additive inverse of unity, and 0, the additive identity. As with the natural numbers, the integers may also have cultural or practical significance. For instance, −40 is the equal point in the
Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his ...
and Celsius scales.


SI prefixes

One important use of integers is in
orders of magnitude An order of magnitude is an approximation of the logarithm of a value relative to some contextually understood reference value, usually 10, interpreted as the base of the logarithm and the representative of values of magnitude one. Logarithmic dis ...
. A
power of 10 A power of 10 is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times (when the power is a positive integer). By definition, the number one is a power (the zeroth power) of ten. The fir ...
is a number 10''k'', where ''k'' is an integer. For instance, with ''k'' = 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., the appropriate powers of ten are 1, 10, 100, 1000, ... Powers of ten can also be fractional: for instance, ''k'' = -3 gives 1/1000, or 0.001. This is used in
scientific notation Scientific notation is a way of expressing numbers that are too large or too small (usually would result in a long string of digits) to be conveniently written in decimal form. It may be referred to as scientific form or standard index form, o ...
, real numbers are written in the form ''m'' × 10''n''. The number 394,000 is written in this form as 3.94 × 105. Integers are used as
prefixes A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy''. Particu ...
in the
SI system The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...
. A metric prefix is a
unit prefix A unit prefix is a specifier or mnemonic that is prepended to units of measurement to indicate multiples or fractions of the units. Units of various sizes are commonly formed by the use of such prefixes. The prefixes of the metric system, such as ...
that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or
fraction A fraction (from la, fractus, "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight ...
of the unit. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to the unit symbol. The prefix ''
kilo- Kilo is a decimal unit prefix in the metric system denoting multiplication by one thousand (103). It is used in the International System of Units, where it has the symbol k, in lowercase. The prefix ''kilo'' is derived from the Greek word (), ...
'', for example, may be added to ''gram'' to indicate ''multiplication'' by one thousand: one kilogram is equal to one thousand grams. The prefix ''
milli- ''Milli'' (symbol m) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of one thousandth (10−3). Proposed in 1793, and adopted in 1795, the prefix comes from the Latin , meaning ''one thousand'' (the Latin plural is ). Since 1960, the pre ...
'', likewise, may be added to ''metre'' to indicate ''division'' by one thousand; one millimetre is equal to one thousandth of a metre.


Rational numbers

A rational number is any number that can be expressed as the
quotient In arithmetic, a quotient (from lat, quotiens 'how many times', pronounced ) is a quantity produced by the division of two numbers. The quotient has widespread use throughout mathematics, and is commonly referred to as the integer part of a ...
or
fraction A fraction (from la, fractus, "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight ...
of two
integer An integer is the number zero (), a positive natural number (, , , etc.) or a negative integer with a minus sign (−1, −2, −3, etc.). The negative numbers are the additive inverses of the corresponding positive numbers. In the language o ...
s, a
numerator A fraction (from la, fractus, "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight ...
and a non-zero
denominator A fraction (from la, fractus, "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight ...
. Since may be equal to 1, every integer is trivially a rational number. The set of all rational numbers, often referred to as "the rationals", the field of rationals or the field of rational numbers is usually denoted by a boldface (or blackboard bold \mathbb, Unicode ); it was thus denoted in 1895 by
Giuseppe Peano Giuseppe Peano (; ; 27 August 1858 – 20 April 1932) was an Italian mathematician and glottologist. The author of over 200 books and papers, he was a founder of mathematical logic and set theory, to which he contributed much notation. The stan ...
after '' quoziente'', Italian for "
quotient In arithmetic, a quotient (from lat, quotiens 'how many times', pronounced ) is a quantity produced by the division of two numbers. The quotient has widespread use throughout mathematics, and is commonly referred to as the integer part of a ...
". Rational numbers such as 0.12 can be represented in
infinitely Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions amo ...
many ways, e.g. ''zero-point-one-two'' (0.12), ''three twenty-fifths'' (), ''nine seventy-fifths'' (), etc. This can be mitigated by representing rational numbers in a canonical form as an irreducible fraction. A list of rational numbers is shown below. The names of fractions can be found at
numeral (linguistics) In linguistics, a numeral (or number word) in the broadest sense is a word or phrase that describes a numerical quantity. Some theories of grammar use the word "numeral" to refer to cardinal numbers that act as a determiner that specify the quan ...
.


Irrational numbers

The irrational numbers are a set of numbers that includes all real numbers that are not rational numbers. The irrational numbers are categorised as algebraic numbers (which are the root of a polynomial with rational coefficients) or transcendental numbers, which are not.


Algebraic numbers


Transcendental numbers


Irrational but not known to be transcendental

Some numbers are known to be
irrational number In mathematics, the irrational numbers (from in- prefix assimilated to ir- (negative prefix, privative) + rational) are all the real numbers that are not rational numbers. That is, irrational numbers cannot be expressed as the ratio of two inte ...
s, but have not been proven to be transcendental. This differs from the algebraic numbers, which are known not to be transcendental.


Real numbers

The real numbers are a superset containing the algebraic and the transcendental numbers. The real numbers, sometimes referred to as "the reals", are usually symbolised by a boldface (or blackboard bold \mathbb, Unicode )''.'' For some numbers, it is not known whether they are algebraic or transcendental. The following list includes
real numbers In mathematics, a real number is a number that can be used to measure a ''continuous'' one-dimensional quantity such as a distance, duration or temperature. Here, ''continuous'' means that values can have arbitrarily small variations. Every ...
that have not been proved to be
irrational Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking, or acting without inclusion of rationality. It is more specifically described as an action or opinion given through inadequate use of reason, or through emotional distress or cognitive deficiency. T ...
, nor transcendental.


Real but not known to be irrational, nor transcendental


Numbers not known with high precision

Some real numbers, including transcendental numbers, are not known with high precision. * The constant in the Berry–Esseen Theorem: 0.4097 < ''C'' < 0.4748 *
De Bruijn–Newman constant The de Bruijn–Newman constant, denoted by Λ and named after Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn and Charles M. Newman, is a mathematical constant defined via the zeros of a certain function ''H''(''λ'', ''z''), where ''λ'' is a real parameter ...
: 0 ≤ Λ ≤ 0.2 * Chaitin's constants Ω, which are transcendental and provably impossible to compute. * Bloch's constant (also 2nd Landau's constant): 0.4332 < ''B'' < 0.4719 * 1st Landau's constant: 0.5 < ''L'' < 0.5433 * 3rd Landau's constant: 0.5 < ''A'' ≤ 0.7853 * Grothendieck constant: 1.67 < ''k'' < 1.79 * Romanov's constant in Romanov's theorem: 0.107648 < ''d'' < 0.49094093, Romanov conjectured that it is 0.434


Hypercomplex numbers

Hypercomplex number In mathematics, hypercomplex number is a traditional term for an element of a finite-dimensional unital algebra over the field of real numbers. The study of hypercomplex numbers in the late 19th century forms the basis of modern group represen ...
is a term for an element of a unital algebra over the
field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...
of
real number In mathematics, a real number is a number that can be used to measure a ''continuous'' one-dimensional quantity such as a distance, duration or temperature. Here, ''continuous'' means that values can have arbitrarily small variations. Every r ...
s. The complex numbers are often symbolised by a boldface (or blackboard bold \mathbb, Unicode ), while the set of
quaternion In mathematics, the quaternion number system extends the complex numbers. Quaternions were first described by the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space. Hamilton defined a qua ...
s is denoted by a boldface (or blackboard bold \mathbb, Unicode ).


Algebraic complex numbers

*
Imaginary unit The imaginary unit or unit imaginary number () is a solution to the quadratic equation x^2+1=0. Although there is no real number with this property, can be used to extend the real numbers to what are called complex numbers, using addition and ...
: i=\sqrt * ''n''th
roots of unity In mathematics, a root of unity, occasionally called a de Moivre number, is any complex number that yields 1 when raised to some positive integer power . Roots of unity are used in many branches of mathematics, and are especially important i ...
: \xi_^=\cos\bigl(2\pi\frac\bigr)+i\sin\bigl(2\pi\frac\bigr), while 0 \leq k \leq n-10, GCD(''k'', ''n'') = 1


Other hypercomplex numbers

* The
quaternion In mathematics, the quaternion number system extends the complex numbers. Quaternions were first described by the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space. Hamilton defined a qua ...
s * The
octonion In mathematics, the octonions are a normed division algebra over the real numbers, a kind of hypercomplex number system. The octonions are usually represented by the capital letter O, using boldface or blackboard bold \mathbb O. Octonions have ...
s * The
sedenion In abstract algebra, the sedenions form a 16-dimensional noncommutative and nonassociative algebra over the real numbers; they are obtained by applying the Cayley–Dickson construction to the octonions, and as such the octonions are isomorphic t ...
s * The
dual number In algebra, the dual numbers are a hypercomplex number system first introduced in the 19th century. They are expressions of the form , where and are real numbers, and is a symbol taken to satisfy \varepsilon^2 = 0 with \varepsilon\neq 0. Du ...
s (with an
infinitesimal In mathematics, an infinitesimal number is a quantity that is closer to zero than any standard real number, but that is not zero. The word ''infinitesimal'' comes from a 17th-century Modern Latin coinage ''infinitesimus'', which originally ref ...
)


Transfinite numbers

Transfinite numbers are numbers that are "
infinite Infinite may refer to: Mathematics *Infinite set, a set that is not a finite set *Infinity, an abstract concept describing something without any limit Music * Infinite (group), a South Korean boy band *''Infinite'' (EP), debut EP of American m ...
" in the sense that they are larger than all
finite Finite is the opposite of infinite. It may refer to: * Finite number (disambiguation) * Finite set, a set whose cardinality (number of elements) is some natural number * Finite verb Traditionally, a finite verb (from la, fīnītus, past particip ...
numbers, yet not necessarily absolutely infinite. * Aleph-null: א: the smallest infinite cardinal, and the cardinality of \mathbb, the set of
natural number In mathematics, the natural numbers are those numbers used for counting (as in "there are ''six'' coins on the table") and ordering (as in "this is the ''third'' largest city in the country"). Numbers used for counting are called ''cardinal ...
s * Aleph-one: א: the cardinality of ω1, the set of all countable ordinal numbers * Beth-one: ב the
cardinality of the continuum In set theory, the cardinality of the continuum is the cardinality or "size" of the set of real numbers \mathbb R, sometimes called the continuum. It is an infinite cardinal number and is denoted by \mathfrak c (lowercase fraktur "c") or , \mathb ...
2 * ℭ or \mathfrak c: the
cardinality of the continuum In set theory, the cardinality of the continuum is the cardinality or "size" of the set of real numbers \mathbb R, sometimes called the continuum. It is an infinite cardinal number and is denoted by \mathfrak c (lowercase fraktur "c") or , \mathb ...
2 *
Omega Omega (; capital letter, capital: Ω, lower case, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy ...
: ω, the smallest infinite ordinal


Numbers representing physical quantities

Physical quantities that appear in the universe are often described using
physical constant A physical constant, sometimes fundamental physical constant or universal constant, is a physical quantity that is generally believed to be both universal in nature and have constant value in time. It is contrasted with a mathematical constant, ...
s. * Avogadro constant: *
Electron mass The electron mass (symbol: ''m''e) is the mass of a stationary electron, also known as the invariant mass of the electron. It is one of the fundamental constants of physics. It has a value of about or about , which has an energy-equivalent of a ...
: *
Fine-structure constant In physics, the fine-structure constant, also known as the Sommerfeld constant, commonly denoted by (the Greek letter ''alpha''), is a fundamental physical constant which quantifies the strength of the electromagnetic interaction between ele ...
: *
Gravitational constant The gravitational constant (also known as the universal gravitational constant, the Newtonian constant of gravitation, or the Cavendish gravitational constant), denoted by the capital letter , is an empirical physical constant involved in th ...
: *
Molar mass constant The molar mass constant, usually denoted by ''M''u, is a physical constant defined as one twelfth of the molar mass of carbon-12: ''M''u = ''M''(12C)/12. The molar mass of any element or compound is its relative atomic mass (atomic weight) mult ...
: *
Planck constant The Planck constant, or Planck's constant, is a fundamental physical constant of foundational importance in quantum mechanics. The constant gives the relationship between the energy of a photon and its frequency, and by the mass-energy equivale ...
: *
Rydberg constant In spectroscopy, the Rydberg constant, symbol R_\infty for heavy atoms or R_\text for hydrogen, named after the Swedish physicist Johannes Rydberg, is a physical constant relating to the electromagnetic spectra of an atom. The constant first a ...
: *
Speed of light in vacuum The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit for ...
: * Vacuum electric permittivity:


Numbers representing geographical and astronomical distances

* , the average equatorial radius of Earth in
kilometers The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres ( kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is now the measurement unit used for e ...
(following GRS 80 and
WGS 84 The World Geodetic System (WGS) is a standard used in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS. The current version, WGS 84, defines an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system and a geodetic datum, and also descri ...
standards). * , the length of the
Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can al ...
in kilometers (following GRS 80 and WGS 84 standards). * , the semi-major axis of the
orbit of the Moon The Moon orbits Earth in the prograde direction and completes one revolution relative to the Vernal Equinox and the stars in about 27.32 days (a tropical month and sidereal month) and one revolution relative to the Sun in about 29.53 days (a ...
, in kilometers, roughly the distance between the center of Earth and that of the Moon. * , the average distance between the Earth and the Sun or
Astronomical Unit The astronomical unit (symbol: au, or or AU) is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun and approximately equal to or 8.3 light-minutes. The actual distance from Earth to the Sun varies by about 3% as Earth orbits ...
(AU), in meters. * , one
light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...
, the distance travelled by light in one Julian year, in meters. * , the distance of one
parsec The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to or (au), i.e. . The parsec unit is obtained by the use of parallax and trigonometry, a ...
, another astronomical unit, in whole meters.


Numbers without specific values

Many languages have words expressing
indefinite and fictitious numbers Many languages have words expressing indefinite and fictitious numbers—inexact terms of indefinite size, used for comic effect, for exaggeration, as placeholder names, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable. One technical term for such ...
—inexact terms of indefinite size, used for comic effect, for exaggeration, as
placeholder name Placeholder names are words that can refer to things or people whose names do not exist, are temporarily forgotten, are not relevant to the salient point at hand, are to avoid stigmatization, are unknowable/unpredictable in the context in whi ...
s, or when precision is unnecessary or undesirable. One technical term for such words is "non-numerical vague quantifier". Such words designed to indicate large quantities can be called "indefinite hyperbolic numerals".Boston Globe, July 13, 2016: "The surprising history of indefinite hyperbolic numerals"
/ref>


Named numbers

*
Eddington number In astrophysics, the Eddington number, , is the number of protons in the observable universe. Eddington originally calculated it as about ; current estimates make it approximately . The term is named for British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington, ...
, ~1080 *
Googol A googol is the large number 10100. In decimal notation, it is written as the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeroes: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ...
, 10100 *
Googolplex A googolplex is the number 10, or equivalently, 10 or 1010,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 . Written out in ordinary decimal notation, it is 1 fol ...
, 10(10100) *
Graham's number Graham's number is an immense number that arose as an upper bound on the answer of a problem in the mathematical field of Ramsey theory. It is much larger than many other large numbers such as Skewes's number and Moser's number, both of which ar ...
*
Hardy–Ramanujan number 1729 is the natural number following 1728 and preceding 1730. It is a taxicab number, and is variously known as Ramanujan's number and the Ramanujan-Hardy number, after an anecdote of the British mathematician G. H. Hardy when he visited Indian ...
, 1729 *
Kaprekar's constant In number theory, Kaprekar's routine is an iterative algorithm that, with each iteration, takes a natural number in a given number base, creates two new numbers by sorting the digits of its number by descending and ascending order, and subtracts t ...
, 6174 * Moser's number *
Rayo's number Rayo's number is a large number named after Mexican philosophy professor Agustín Rayo which has been claimed to be the largest named number. It was originally defined in a "big number duel" at MIT on 26 January 2007. Definition The definition ...
*
Shannon number The Shannon number, named after the American mathematician Claude Shannon, is a conservative lower bound of the game-tree complexity of chess of 10120, based on an average of about 103 possibilities for a pair of moves consisting of a move for Whi ...
*
Skewes's number In number theory, Skewes's number is any of several large numbers used by the South African mathematician Stanley Skewes as upper bounds for the smallest natural number x for which :\pi(x) > \operatorname(x), where is the prime-counting function ...
* TREE(3)


See also

* Absolute Infinite *
English numerals English number words include numerals and various words derived from them, as well as a large number of words borrowed from other languages. Cardinal numbers Cardinal numbers refer to the size of a group. In English, these words are numerals. ...
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Floating-point arithmetic In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic that represents real numbers approximately, using an integer with a fixed precision, called the significand, scaled by an integer exponent of a fixed base. For example, 12.345 can be r ...
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Fraction A fraction (from la, fractus, "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight ...
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Integer sequence In mathematics, an integer sequence is a sequence (i.e., an ordered list) of integers. An integer sequence may be specified ''explicitly'' by giving a formula for its ''n''th term, or ''implicitly'' by giving a relationship between its terms. For ...
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Interesting number paradox The interesting number paradox is a humorous paradox which arises from the attempt to classify every natural number as either "interesting" or "uninteresting". The paradox states that every natural number is interesting. The "proof" is by contrad ...
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Large numbers Large numbers are numbers significantly larger than those typically used in everyday life (for instance in simple counting or in monetary transactions), appearing frequently in fields such as mathematics, cosmology, cryptography, and statistical ...
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List of mathematical constants A mathematical constant is a key number whose value is fixed by an unambiguous definition, often referred to by a symbol (e.g., an alphabet letter), or by mathematicians' names to facilitate using it across multiple mathematical problems. For exa ...
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List of prime numbers This is a list of articles about prime numbers. A prime number (or ''prime'') is a natural number greater than 1 that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself. By Euclid's theorem, there are an infinite number of prime numbers. Subsets ...
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List of types of numbers Numbers can be classified according to how they are represented or according to the properties that they have. Main types * Natural numbers (\mathbb): The counting numbers are commonly called natural numbers; however, other definitions include ...
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Mathematical constant A mathematical constant is a key number whose value is fixed by an unambiguous definition, often referred to by a symbol (e.g., an alphabet letter), or by mathematicians' names to facilitate using it across multiple mathematical problems. Const ...
*
Metric prefix A metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or submultiple of the unit. All metric prefixes used today are decadic. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol. The pre ...
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Names of large numbers Two naming scales for large numbers have been used in English and other European languages since the early modern era: the long and short scales. Most English variants use the short scale today, but the long scale remains dominant in many non-Eng ...
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Names of small numbers This article lists and discusses the usage and derivation of names of small numbers. Table of names The following table lists English language names of small numbers used in the long and short scales, along with the power of 10, engineering notat ...
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Negative number In mathematics, a negative number represents an opposite. In the real number system, a negative number is a number that is less than zero. Negative numbers are often used to represent the magnitude of a loss or deficiency. A debt that is owed m ...
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Numeral (linguistics) In linguistics, a numeral (or number word) in the broadest sense is a word or phrase that describes a numerical quantity. Some theories of grammar use the word "numeral" to refer to cardinal numbers that act as a determiner that specify the quan ...
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Numeral prefix Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example: * unicycle, bicycle, tricycle (1-cycle, 2-cycle, 3-cyc ...
*
Order of magnitude An order of magnitude is an approximation of the logarithm of a value relative to some contextually understood reference value, usually 10, interpreted as the base of the logarithm and the representative of values of magnitude one. Logarithmic d ...
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Orders of magnitude (numbers) This list contains selected positive numbers in increasing order, including counts of things, dimensionless quantities and probabilities. Each number is given a name in the short scale, which is used in English-speaking countries, as well as a ...
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Ordinal number In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets. A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the least ...
* ''
The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers ''The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers'' is a reference book for recreational mathematics and elementary number theory written by David Wells. The first edition was published in paperback by Penguin Books in 1986 in the UK ...
'' *
Power of two A power of two is a number of the form where is an integer, that is, the result of exponentiation with number two as the base and integer  as the exponent. In a context where only integers are considered, is restricted to non-negative ...
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Power of 10 A power of 10 is any of the integer powers of the number ten; in other words, ten multiplied by itself a certain number of times (when the power is a positive integer). By definition, the number one is a power (the zeroth power) of ten. The fir ...
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Surreal number In mathematics, the surreal number system is a totally ordered proper class containing the real numbers as well as infinite and infinitesimal numbers, respectively larger or smaller in absolute value than any positive real number. The surreals s ...
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Table of prime factors The tables contain the prime factorization of the natural numbers from 1 to 1000. When ''n'' is a prime number, the prime factorization is just ''n'' itself, written in bold below. The number 1 is called a unit. It has no prime factors and is ...


References

* *.


Further reading

* ''Kingdom of Infinite Number: A Field Guide'' by Bryan Bunch, W.H. Freeman & Company, 2001.


External links


The Database of Number Correlations: 1 to 2000+


* ttp://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/math/number/number.html Name of a Number
See how to write big numbers
*





in ''How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement'' by Russ Rowlett

(from 0 to 9999) {{DEFAULTSORT:Numbers Mathematical tables