M©M represents the infinite as a huge number becoming finite, expressed as three simple letters – as spirit becomes flesh through conception and birth so ideas are brought to life.
M©M is a huge number, consider for example:
- McM is amega number
- How many times does a human heart beat in a lifetime?
- How many people on the planet?
- How many red blood cells in the body?
- How many neural connections in the brain?
- How many seconds in the life of the earth?
- How many stars in the universe?
- How many atoms in a teaspoon of carbon?
- How many atoms in the universe?
- What is a googol?
- What is a googolplex?
M©M is a meganumber
M©M is, as these examples show, extra-universal. In one sense it is a measure of time: A millennium to the power of a century, multiplied by a millennium (or 1000(x100) 1000 or 10(x303) (ten to the power of 303) years). This is many many times greater than the age of the universe (which is estimated to be only 15 billion or 1.5×10(x10) years old). Here we have represented ‘powers’ in brackets so that 100 – which is ten to the power of two – becomes 10(x2).
Here are some other natural numbers which show the scale of M©M.
How many times does a human heart beat in a lifetime?
The ‘least shrew’ from America weighs between 2-2.5 grams. A least shrew’s heart beats about 400 times per minute and can even go as high as 1,000 beats per minute while an elephant’s heart rate is just about 25 beats per minute with a heart that can weigh over 28 pounds. A female blue whale has been recorded with a heart that weighed 1540lbs (698.5kg) – that’s nearly three-quarters of a ton!
The human heart beats an average of 70 times per minute. In a lifetime of 80 years that means the heart beating about 42,048,000 or 4.2×10(x7) times.
How many people on the planet?
There are about 6.4billion (6.4×10(x9) ) people on the earth.
How many red blood cells in the body?
There are 25 billion (or 2.5 x 10(x10)) red blood cells (these cells carry oxygen) in the average human body.
How many neural connections in the brain?
Our brains form a million new connections for every second of our lives. The human brain has about 100 billion neurons. Estimates of the number of synapses (the numerous connections between neurons) have been made in the range from 10(x13) to 10(x15).
How many seconds in the life of the earth?
The Earth has been around for about 4.5 billion years, about 1.4 x 10(x17) seconds.
How many stars in the universe?
There are far too many stars for scientists to count but, by estimating, scientists believe that number of stars exceeds 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10(x21)). This is about the same as the number of grains of sand on all the beaches of the earth (estimated between 10(x22) and 10(x25)), or drops of water in all the oceans.
How many atoms in a teaspoon of carbon?
This is something known as Avogadro’s number – 6×10(x23). It is the number of atoms in an equivalent weight to the atomic weight in grams (also known, rather curiously, as a mole). For example the atomic weight of carbon is 12.
There are approximately 6×10(x23) atoms in 12g of carbon. More than the number of stars in the universe.
How many atoms in the universe?
How many atoms in a star? Let’s say the Sun is a typical star and it’s made up totally of hydrogen. The mass of the Sun is estimated to be around 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000kg (2×10(x30)). The mass of a hydrogen atom is 0.0000000000000000000000000017kg (1.7×10(x-27) ). Divide one by the other and the number of atoms in the Sun is about: 1,200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1.2×10(x57)).
Now multiply that by the number of stars in the universe and you have: 1 with 77 or 79 zeros after it (depending how you do the calculation).
Another way of doing the sum is to take the mass of the observable universe as 1 with 52 zeros after it kilograms. It’s thought that’s about 90% of the total mass of the universe which is then estimated to be 10 with 52 zeros after it kg. Divide that by the mass of a hydrogen atom (the vast majority of the universe is hydrogen) and the number of atoms is 6 with 79 zeros after it.)
There are approximately 6×10(x79) atoms in the universe. (Much less than M©M).
What is a googol?
The name ‘googol’ was invented by a child (Dr Kasner’s nine-year-old nephew) who was asked to think up a name for a very big number, namely, 1 with a hundred zeros after it. A huge number but by no means infinite. At the same time that he suggested ‘googol’ he gave a name for a still larger number: ‘Googolplex’.
A googol is 1 with 100 zeros after it or 1×10(x100).
M©M (1000 (x100) 1000) is even bigger than a googol. M©M is big enough to embrace all of the abovenumbers many times over, except for the googolplex.
What is a googolplex?
A googolplex is much larger than a googol, but is still finite. Apparently, it was first suggested that a googolplex should be 1, followed by writing zeros until you got tired. But different people get tired at different times! The googolplex then, is a specific finite number, with so many zeros after the 1 that the number of zeros is a googol.
A googolplex is much bigger than a googol, much bigger even than a googol times a googol. A googol times a googol would be 1 with 200 zeros, whereas a googolplex is 1 with a googol of zeros!
You will get some idea of the size of this very large but finite number from the fact that there would not be enough room to write it, if you went to the farthest star, touring all the nebulae and putting down zeros every inch of the way.
A googolplex is 10(x100)(x100). (Ten to the power of a hundred to the power of a hundred.)
A googolplex is many times bigger than M©M
With thanks to the site on Google which lists the googol.