Googol facts for kids
A googol is a very, very large number. It is written as the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. You can also write it as 10100. Imagine a 1 with a hundred zeros after it – that's a googol! It's so big, it's hard to even picture.
How the Word "Googol" Was Born
The word "googol" was invented by a young boy. In 1937, a 9-year-old named Milton Sirotta came up with the name. Milton was the nephew of a famous American mathematician, Edward Kasner. Kasner asked his nephew to suggest a name for this incredibly large number. Milton's creative idea was "googol."
Googol and the Company Google
The well-known internet company Google got its name from the number "googol." The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, wanted a name that showed how much information their search engine could organize. They chose "googol" to represent the huge amount of data on the internet.
Interestingly, the company's name "Google" is actually a misspelling of "googol." When they were looking for a domain name (the website address), the correct spelling "googol.com" was already taken. So, they decided to use "google.com" instead.
Related Big Numbers
- Googolplex: This number is even bigger than a googol! A googolplex is 10googol. That means it's the number 1 followed by a googol of zeros. It's so big, you couldn't even write it down on paper.
- Graham's number: This is another incredibly large number. It's much, much bigger than a googol or a googolplex. Scientists use numbers like these in advanced mathematics.
