Number Crunching

[AlfredJPruffock]

Does anybody happen to know the largest number ever calculated by a Computer ?

[RichardCranium]

Probably 45 thousand million.

Your question is one of that type that always makes we want to say "Now try asking the actual question to which you want an answer".


The largest number with a name is a googolplex which is only 100 digits long. I think Python's inbuilt calculator can handle numbers that big. If not, there are free downloadable long number calculators that definitely can.

The largest known prime is nearly 13 million digits long. But what about this:

Create a text file containing nothing but digits. As big as you like, but how about just under one terabyte. If I open that file in append mode, write a '1' to the end and close it, the computer has - through intelligent action on the part of the programmer - calculated y = 10x + 1

The resulting number will be a terabyte long, about 10^12 digits.

If that isn't big enough, let's do it in binary. Fill the file with ASCII 'FF' characters. I then change the very last bit from a 1 to a 0. That is a number of the order 2^281,474,976,710,656 having one subtracted from it. I think that is about 84,732,411,018,727 digits long in decimal. (To print it would take just under 2 million boxes of 132 column continuous stationery.)

Want a bigger number? Use a bigger hard disk and have a bigger file.

I think you need to define 'calculate'. Do you mean within the CPU or by programmatic means? So far, there is no limit to what a computer can do, merely the imagination of the problem creator and the programmer.

[VectraMan]

My software sometimes accidentally calculates infinity.

Do I win?

[ThomasSoerensen]

Probably 45 thousand million.

Your question is one of that type that always makes we want to say "Now try asking the actual question to which you want an answer".


The largest number with a name is a googolplex which is only 100 digits long. I think Python's inbuilt calculator can handle numbers that big. If not, there are free downloadable long number calculators that definitely can.

The largest known prime is nearly 13 million digits long. But what about this:

Create a text file containing nothing but digits. As big as you like, but how about just under one terabyte. If I open that file in append mode, write a '1' to the end and close it, the computer has - through intelligent action on the part of the programmer - calculated y = 10x + 1

The resulting number will be a terabyte long, about 10^12 digits.

If that isn't big enough, let's do it in binary. Fill the file with ASCII 'FF' characters, 01. I then change the very last bit from a 1 to a 0. That is a number of the order 2^281,474,976,710,656 having one subtracted from it. I think that is about 84,732,411,018,727 digits long in decimal. (To print it would take just under 2 million boxes of 132 column continuous stationery.)

Want a bigger number? Use a bigger hard disk and have a bigger file.

I think you need to define 'calculate'. Do you mean within the CPU or by programmatic means? So far, there is no limit to what a computer can do, merely the imagination of the problem creator and the programmer.

and then you still go on like a ranting lunatic

[HairyArsedBloke]

Does anybody happen to know the largest number ever calculated by a Computer ?

69

[RichardCranium]

and then you still go on like a ranting lunatic

I was trying to help.

[DiscoStu]

My software sometimes accidentally calculates infinity.

Do I win?

[DimPrawn]

Does anybody happen to know the largest number ever calculated by a Computer ?

17523.89

HTH

[AlfredJPruffock]

My software sometimes accidentally calculates infinity.

Do I win?

Thanks for your help Boys !

I liked HABs response - cheeky ! - good to see HABs cheered up and no longer worrying himself senseless about Cosmic debris catastrophes - oh thats torn it !

VectraMan - very very warm - because I heard in a bar once the biggest number ever calculated was appoximately Infinite by an IBM SuperDuper 4341 Computer - you know what I came back with ?

What colour was the computer ?

He nearly spat his lager out at that one !

Weekend everybody !

[PerlOfWisdom]

The largest number with a name is a googolplex which is only 100 digits long. I think Python's inbuilt calculator can handle numbers that big. If not, there are free downloadable long number calculators that definitely can.

No, that's a googol. A googolplex is ten to the power of a googol.

It's impossible to write the number, it has 10^100 digits which is more than the number of atoms in the universe.