Millions and Billions: How Big is That? Comprehending Large Numbers Some things are measured in millions and billions. There are millions of miles between the earth and the sun, and millions of stars in the sky. New movies often sell millions of dollars in tickets during their first week at a theater. Dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago. Our planet is billions of years old. Lawmakers work with budgets of millions or billions of dollars. The population of a large city or small country may be millions, while the population of the world is billions. In these activities, students explore the difference between a million and a billion. How Much Is a Million? A Billion? Imagine someone gave you a million dollars and told you to spend $1,000 every day and come back when you ran out of money. You would return, with no money left, in three years. If someone then gave you a billion dollars and you spent $1,000 each day, you would be spending for about 2,740 years before you went broke. How many dollar bills does it take to make a stack 1 inch high? Well, we'll give you the answer: 100 dollar bills. That means a $1,000 stack is 10 inches high. Since a million is a thousand thousand, a million dollar bills would make a stack 10,000 inches high. How many feet high would that be? A billion is a thousand million. A billion dollar bils would be 10,000,000 inches high. How many miles would that be? Try This! How many days old would you be if you were a million seconds old? (HINT: Begin by figuring the number of seconds in one day, or 24 hours.) If you could choose between 1 million dollars and 1 billion dollars and were told you had to spend $1,000 every day until you ran out of money, which amout would you choose? Why? Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form