A googol is the number 1010010^{100}10100, which means a 1 followed by 100 zeros, an unimaginably huge quantity far larger than the number of atoms in the observable universe.

Quick Scoop: How Big Is a Googol?

To picture how big a googol is:

  • A googol is 111 with 100 zeros after it.
  • Written out, it looks like:

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

  • The estimated number of atoms in the observable universe is around 108010^{80}1080, so a googol is far bigger than that.
  • Even if you tried to count one number per second from 1 upward, you would never get anywhere close to a googol in the lifetime of the universe.

A related number, a googolplex , is 10googol10^{\text{googol}}10googol: a 1 followed by a googol zeros, so large that you could not physically write all the zeros in the observable universe.

Where the Name “Googol” Comes From

The word “googol” has a playful, almost childlike sound, and that’s not an accident.

  • The term was introduced by American mathematician Edward Kasner in the early 20th century.
  • Kasner asked his young nephew, Milton Sirotta , to make up a name for a very large number; the child invented the word “googol.”
  • Kasner later also coined “googolplex” (originally described by Milton as “one, followed by writing zeros until you get tired,” which Kasner then made precise as 10googol10^{\text{googol}}10googol).

The modern tech company Google took its name from this number (with a slightly different spelling), as a nod to organizing an enormous amount of information.

Mini Note on Your Alphabetized Numbers

If you alphabetize the English names for the numbers from one to one thousand (like “eight,” “eighteen,” “five,” “nine hundred,” etc.), a googol is so much larger that it lives completely outside that list; it belongs to the world of “large-number names” rather than everyday counting numbers.

TL;DR: A googol is 1010010^{100}10100, a 1 followed by 100 zeros, named by a mathematician’s young nephew, Milton Sirotta, and later echoed in the name of the company Google.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.