Physics student proposes name for really big number
JUL 07, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024477
Los Angeles Times : A student at the University of California, Davis, has proposed the term “hella” to denote the (as yet unnamed) metric prefix for a million billion trillion, or 10 27. Austin Sendek, a 20-year-old physics major, has petitioned the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (one of three organizations that oversee the keeping of metric standards) to consider the term at its upcoming meeting in September. What started as a joke on Sendek’s Facebook page has been gaining supporters, including Google, which incorporated “hella” in its online calculator. The term, which originated in northern California, means “really” or “a lot.”
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
