10 Notable Numbers
Published on October 14, 2007 - 44 Comments
Numbers effect most aspects of our lives daily. This is a list of 10 notable numbers.
10. -273.15
This is the temperature (in centigrade) known as absolute zero (0 Kelvin) which describes a theoretical system that neither emits nor absorbs energy. It is the point at which particles have a minimum energy, determined by quantum mechanical effects, which is called the zero-point energy. Absolute zero is also precisely equivalent to 0 °R on the Rankine scale (also a thermodynamic temperature scale), and –459.67 °F on the Fahrenheit scale. It is not possible to cool any substance to 0 K, but scientists have made great advancements in achieving temperatures close to absolute zero, where matter exhibits odd quantum effects such as superconductivity and superfluidity.
9. 31337
If you don’t know what this one means, the number does not apply to you. If you are not 31337 and want to know how to become 31337, Wikipedia has a good article on it here.
8. -40
This number is unique in temperature readings; it is unique because -40 is the only point at which the fahrenheit and centigrade scales meet. -40F is the same as -40C.
7. 3888
This is the largest number representable with standard Roman numeral notation. In Roman numerals it appears: MMMDCCCLXXXVIII.
6. 666
666 is most famous as the number of the beast in the biblical book of the Apocalypse. It is also the former number of Route 491, a brand of cough syrup, and forms part of the name of 666 Desdemona, a minor planet in the asteroid belt. A person with a fear of this number has hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.
5. 911
Before the terrorist attacks on the US, this number was also attached to a type of porsche and a trojan asteroid that orbits the sun. It is, of course, also the US, Canadian, and Argentinean emergency services telephone number.
4. Graham’s Number
Graham’s number is the largest number that has been used in a serious mathematical proof. It is too large to be written in scientific notation and is much larger than a googol, googolplex, and is even larger than Moser’s number, another very large number. Using Knuth’s up-arrow notation, Graham’s Number (G) can be depicted as in the image above.
3. e
The number e, sometimes called Euler’s number or Napier’s constant, is one of the most important numbers in mathematics. Bernoulli discovered this number when studying a problem of compounding interest. Simply put, an account that starts at $1, and yields (1+R) dollars at simple interest, will yield eR dollars with continuous compounding. The number e itself also has applications to probability theory, where it arises in a way not obviously related to exponential growth. Suppose that a gambler plays a slot machine with a one in n probability and plays it n times. Then, for large n (such as a million) the probability that the gambler will win nothing at all is (approximately) 1/e. e looks like this to 20 decimal places: 2.71828 18284 59045 23536…
2. Pi
Pi or π is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry, approximately 3.14159. Pi is a mathematical constant and a transcendental (and therefore irrational) real number, with many uses in mathematics, physics, and engineering. It is also known as Archimedes’ constant.
1. 1.6180339887
This is the Golden Ratio. In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. The golden ratio is approximately 1.6180339887. At least since the Renaissance, many artists and architects have proportioned their works to approximate the golden ratio—especially in the form of the golden rectangle, in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter is the golden ratio—believing this proportion to be aesthetically pleasing. Mathematicians have studied the golden ratio because of its unique and interesting properties.
This article is licensed under the GFDL. It uses material from the Wikipedia articles: Napier’s Constant, Absolute Zero, Graham’s Number, Pi, and Golden Ratio.
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1. mechomadness - October 14th, 2007 at 8:15 am
No Avogadro’s number?
2. jfrater - October 14th, 2007 at 8:24 am
mechomadness: I have to leave something back for “another ten notable numbers”!
3. Juggz - October 14th, 2007 at 8:34 am
no 69? hehe
4. jfrater - October 14th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Juggz: this is a family show!
5. JT - October 14th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Does anyone else think Graham’s number looks like a woman wearing a corset? Or am I just mad…
I hate maths anyway…:( I gave it up at school as soon as I could.
6. Joe Skepsis - October 14th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Ah, you opted for a serious list.
23, 42 and 69, you were robbed.
11:11 too.
7. jfrater - October 14th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Joe: Semi-serious - I was strongly considering 42
8. jfrater - October 14th, 2007 at 8:57 am
JT: I stopped as soon as I could too - I really suck at it now.
9. just me - October 14th, 2007 at 9:03 am
cool i learned something today
mabye you should have at 13 to => triskaidekaphobia
10. Ravyn - October 14th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Jt & Jamie: I also hate math. I dropped it as soon as I could. I still don’t understand why they kept putting me in the advanced classes. I was never good at it.
I also noticed you put 666 as number 6. Was that a coincidence or were you trying to be funny?
11. ben - October 14th, 2007 at 11:11 am
theres a number larger than a googolplex? thats like 1 followed by 1 googol zeros! writing just that in standard print would take you from earth to one of the farthest known stars and back
12. stugy - October 14th, 2007 at 11:41 am
Nice list, as a mathematician I would like to see i and maybe the order of the monster group in another list.
13. jfrater - October 14th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Ravyn: hah - entirely a coincidence!
ben: that is why we need specialized notation. Especially when you consider that a googolplex is written easily with standard notation as 1010100
14. jfrater - October 14th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
stugy: I considered i but thought it would take too many lines to explain it properly - M (808017424794512875886459904961710757005754368000000000) was new to me before you mentioned it - fascinating. I am glad you brought it up and I will definitely consider both for a more advanced notable numbers list. I am pleased to know that a Mathematician approves of the list otherwise
15. Kelsi - October 14th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Hehe, glad you included 31337. I was pleasantly surprised to find it on the list.
16. jfrater - October 14th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Kelsi: just between one 1337 and another, how could I leave it off?
17. Tj Barber - October 14th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
what about the imaginary number? the square root of negative 1 a number that is needed in some electronic proofing but has no really way of being represented as a real amount (the number is neither negative or positive)
I’ve had a lot of fascination with this number, as it can create real values with a non representative figure. Any thoughts?
18. Monkey - October 14th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia… add that to the phobia list!
What about 13?
19. Daniel - October 15th, 2007 at 1:38 am
TE Barber: i (cool HTML there) can be viewed as a shorthand for a particular ring on the reals. It’s really not as imaginary as you’d think. If you’re intrigued by the properties of i, read some recreational number theory (a good start is Douglas R. Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach. Even when you don’t liken it to a ring on the reals, i is no more abstract than the real numbers. It’s just easy to be fooled by the fact that it doesn’t appear on the Real number line.
jfrater: Error in the first character on the list! For consistency with the description, that number should be -273.15.
There’s also scope for a list of Really Big Numbers. Things like the Busy Beaver function, the xckd number, and the results of various competitions to see who can (for example) write the biggest number on a post-it note.
Joe Skepsis: You missed five
20. jfrater - October 15th, 2007 at 1:44 am
Daniel: oops - fixed - thanks for that.
21. Crimanon - October 15th, 2007 at 3:15 am
I was thinking about the uses if Pi a couple of days ago. It related to the whole hubbub about changing Pi to a more standardized 3.14. Funny, because if you think about it, anything that would have been built after that Wonderful Idea would have fallen over. It’s amuzing to me.
22. jfrater - October 15th, 2007 at 3:20 am
Crimanon: who came up with that brilliant idea?
23. Crimanon - October 15th, 2007 at 4:02 am
It would have literally been an act of Congress. This was years ago anyway and the scientists and mathmatitians were Pissed.
24. jfrater - October 15th, 2007 at 4:07 am
Crimanon: ah okay. More proof that politics and science don’t mix! Get the politicians out of Global Warming!
25. Rob - October 15th, 2007 at 5:07 am
De-politicizing global warming would be the best thing to happen to science this decade.
26. jfrater - October 15th, 2007 at 5:23 am
Rob: I am totally with you on that.
27. Che - October 15th, 2007 at 7:45 am
I read somewhere that the real number of the devil was actually 616, not 666.
Some wierd kabbalistic number-magic…
http://www.csad.ox.ac.uk/POxy/beast616.htm
28. Sean the pyro - October 15th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Definitely need Avagadro’s number.
Also, how many times did Lewis Black say the word “Fuck” in his first HBO special? Hint: It is the same as the answer to life, the universe and everything.
And what about 71. If you don’t know you need to watch more George Carlin.
29. ImplosiveFire - October 15th, 2007 at 10:35 am
31337? 1 7h0u9h7 17 w42 1337
0 w3LL K3wL l157
kthxbye xD
(Haha, sorry, I couldn’t help myself)
30. Tyler - October 15th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Though the number for temperature (-40) is correct, check your conversion calculations.
Should be:
Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32)
&
Tf = (9/5)*Tc+32
31. jfrater - October 15th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Tyler: thanks for the correction - if you like to make two images to replace the ones I have I would be very happy to put them up instead.
32. Adam W. - October 15th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
What about 420?
You neglected the stoners most favorite number.
33. Monkey - October 16th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Adam W… Hahaha! Does anyone know the significance of 4:20? Why that number?
34. Molly - October 16th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
23!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23_%28numerology%29
35. Champiñon - October 29th, 2007 at 5:41 am
Where is Pi?
36. Ben - November 15th, 2007 at 3:19 am
I heard somewhere that 666 was incorrect, That it had been mistranslated and the actual number is 616
37. jfrater - November 15th, 2007 at 3:25 am
Ben: Read the comments on this list: Top 5 Myths about the Papacy - particularly comment 9 - it is 666, 616 was an error made very early on that first century Christians knew about and stated was an error. Sometimes these things have a habit of coming back up - like the Gnostic Gospels
38. aplspud - November 21st, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Monkey: Go here
http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/420.asp
I don’t understand #7. Why can’t Roman numerals go higher?
#9: So does this apply to HoW TeEnNaGeRs writ3 liike thiis? And I’ve also seen teenagers (who aren’t really computer geek types) use ORLY and many of the other things associated with 1337. So does this cause 1337 to lose its currency as a status indicator? Has it sold out to the masses?
Also, I too quite math as soon as I could (tenth grade). I specifically chose an undergrad program that didn’t require me to take math.
39. Marcus - December 13th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
The list of the 10 most notable numbers should have included:
number 1,
number 0,
i (the square root of -1)
the square root of 2 (which was, probably, the first known irrational number),
the silver ratio (1+square root of 2),
the bronze ratio ((3+square root of 13)/2),
the Euler–Mascheroni constant,
pi, (that was in this list)
the golden ratio (that was in this list) and
e. (that was in this list)
I’m looking forward for your next list of other 10 notable numbers…
Maybe you should do a list of notable numbers in Math and another one for notable numbers in Science…
40. copperdragon - January 3rd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
i was hoping that 0 (zero) would be on the list, as many cultures do not understand the concept of “nothing”.
also, isn’t the golden ratio used in fractal art? or is that something different?
41. nelson - February 6th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
i hate math
42. Polly Odyssey - April 23rd, 2008 at 9:15 am
Where’s zero?!
43. Elsa - April 29th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
We all know the most important number is 42
*cheesy grin*
44. 116880 - May 13th, 2008 at 7:18 am
nerds