A quintillion is a large number that is equal to 1 followed by 18 zeros. To write it out numerically, a quintillion looks like this:
1,000,000,000,000,000,000
In the United States and most parts of the world that use the short scale, quintillion represents 1018. The term ‘quintillion’ is derived from the Latin word ‘quintus,’ which means ‘fifth,’ indicating that it is the fifth power of a thousand.
Here’s how the number is structured:
- The first three zeros represent the thousands (1,000).
- The next three represent the millions (1,000,000).
- The following three represent the billions (1,000,000,000).
- The next three signify the trillions (1,000,000,000,000).
- Finally, the last three zeros complete the quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000).
In summary, if you ever come across the term quintillion, remember that it’s a whopping number built from a simple 1 followed by 18 zeros!