Million

One million (1,000,000) is 10^6, or one thousand thousands. A million seconds is about 11.5 days.

A million is the first number most people encounter that exceeds direct human experience. You can count to a million, but it would take nearly 12 days of nonstop counting at one number per second. In scientific notation, it's written as 1 × 10^6.

Common real-world examples of a million: the population of a mid-sized city (Austin, TX or Prague), about 11.5 days of seconds, the approximate number of bacteria on a single human tooth, or the number of dots in a 1000×1000 grid.

In finance, a million dollars is a meaningful personal fortune but a rounding error in government budgets. A company valued at $1 million is a small business. Understanding where a million sits on the number scale helps calibrate your response to larger numbers like billions and trillions.

Visualize a million with the How Big? tool to see exactly how it compares to larger numbers.

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More terms

BillionOne billion (1,000,000,000) is 10^9, or one thousand millions. A billion seconds is about 31.7 years.GoogolA googol is 10^100 (1 followed by 100 zeros). It far exceeds the number of atoms in the observable universe (~10^80).GoogolplexA googolplex is 10^googol, or 10^(10^100). It cannot be written out in full because it has more digits than atoms in the universe.InnumeracyInnumeracy is the mathematical equivalent of illiteracy: the inability to understand and work with numbers and basic mathematical concepts.Order of MagnitudeAn order of magnitude is a factor of 10. Two numbers differ by one order of magnitude if one is roughly 10 times the other.View all glossary terms