Trillion

For other uses, see Trillion (disambiguation).
vizualisation of 1 Trillion
Visualization of 1 trillion (short scale)
A partially turned Rubik's cube
A Rubik's cube, which has about 43 trillion (long scale) possible positions

Trillion is a number with two distinct definitions:

  • 1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million million, or 1012 (ten to the twelfth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the meaning in both American and British English.
  • 1,000,000,000,000,000,000, i.e. 1018 (ten to the eighteenth power), as defined on the long scale. This is one million times larger than the short scale trillion. This is the historical meaning in English and the current use in many non-English-speaking countries where trillion and billion 1012 (ten to the twelfth power) maintain their long scale definitions.