Big Numbers

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FourPart
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Big Numbers

Post by FourPart »

Being the Geek that I am I found this LinkedIn item rather interesting.

linkedin.com/pulse/whats-largest-number-you-can-represent-3-digits-nope-its-ed-trice?trk=eml-b2_content_ecosystem_digest-recommended_articles-67-null&midToken=AQHgF2N3KlI8Ag&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=13rR36GXOoXD81

(NB I had to remove the www from the beginning of the link as, due to some FG glitch, despite having made 4752 posts, I have not yet reached the minimum 5 posts required in order to post links)
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spot
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Big Numbers

Post by spot »

What's the largest number you can represent with 3 digits?

I'll take a shot.

9^(9^9)

I've no idea how big that is but it's 9^387420489 so it's going to have around 350 million digits in the answer.

By contrast, factorial 999 only has 2,564 digits:

402387260077093773543702433923003985719374864210714632543799910429938512398629020592044208486969404800479988610197196058631666872994808558901323829669944590997424504087073759918823627727188732519779505950995276120874975462497043601418278094646496291056393887437886487337119181045825783647849977012476632889835955735432513185323958463075557409114262417474349347553428646576611667797396668820291207379143853719588249808126867838374559731746136085379534524221586593201928090878297308431392844403281231558611036976801357304216168747609675871348312025478589320767169132448426236131412508780208000261683151027341827977704784635868170164365024153691398281264810213092761244896359928705114964975419909342221566832572080821333186116811553615836546984046708975602900950537616475847728421889679646244945160765353408198901385442487984959953319101723355556602139450399736280750137837615307127761926849034352625200015888535147331611702103968175921510907788019393178114194545257223865541461062892187960223838971476088506276862967146674697562911234082439208160153780889893964518263243671616762179168909779911903754031274622289988005195444414282012187361745992642956581746628302955570299024324153181617210465832036786906117260158783520751516284225540265170483304226143974286933061690897968482590125458327168226458066526769958652682272807075781391858178889652208164348344825993266043367660176999612831860788386150279465955131156552036093988180612138558600301435694527224206344631797460594682573103790084024432438465657245014402821885252470935190620929023136493273497565513958720559654228749774011413346962715422845862377387538230483865688976461927383814900140767310446640259899490222221765904339901886018566526485061799702356193897017860040811889729918311021171229845901641921068884387121855646124960798722908519296819372388642614839657382291123125024186649353143970137428531926649875337218940694281434118520158014123344828015051399694290153483077644569099073152433278288269864602789864321139083506217095002597389863554277196742822248757586765752344220207573630569498825087968928162753848863396909959826280956121450994871701244516461260379029309120889086942028510640182154399457156805941872748998094254742173582401063677404595741785160829230135358081840096996372524230560855903700624271243416909004153690105933983835777939410970027753472000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
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Bruv
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Big Numbers

Post by Bruv »

I am happy to own up to the fact I'm not a geek, luckily enough.
I thought I knew more than this until I opened my mouth
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FourPart
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Big Numbers

Post by FourPart »

That's where the debate went. However, I was wondering if the exponent operands would count as 'digits'.
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spot
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Big Numbers

Post by spot »

It's a technical term, digit. It consists of ten characters in the range 0 to 9. Your operands are what we in the trade refer to as punctuation.

https://www.gnu.org/software/grep/manua ... sions.html
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left. ... Hold no regard for unsupported opinion.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious. [Fred Wedlock, "The Folker"]
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.

When you design tactics to maximise suffering on civilian populations and your only constraint is operational rather than moral, you've told the world who you are.
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FourPart
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Big Numbers

Post by FourPart »

The actual one the poster (or more to the point, his Daughter) gave was 9^9^9 (without the parentheses), but the answer was disallowed because the class had not yet been taught about exponents. Talk about Jobsworth.
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