# Need help with ways to visualize 1,000,000 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824 "2007-04-05T03:46:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/1 "2007-04-05T03:46:19Z")
I’m giving a speech in my class tomorrow and I need some help in coming up with ideas of ways to help my classmates visualize the number 1 million. The class is a speech class at the local community college, the kids aren’t dumb, but the ideas need to aim at this audience and they need to be vivid. It’s a speech about a foundation/charity and I need to leave a lasting impact. Any ideas? Right now I’m using an image of 1000 |'s and saying each of these |s represents 1000, but it is not powerful enough. So, any thoughts? – IG ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/2 "2007-04-05T03:56:00Z")
Does [this help](http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/million/million.html) (experiment to see how much is “inside” $1mm)? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/3 "2007-04-05T04:00:19Z")
You have to be online for these: An online clocking, count dots every second –\> [A dot for every second in the day - a clock](http://www.vendian.org/envelope/dir2/day_of_dots_clock/) A million dots on a web page —\> [A million dots on one page](http://www.vendian.org/envelope/dir2/lots_of_dots/million_dots.html) Use some simple math. Say, If you spent one dollar every second, how many days would it take to spend $1 million? Then hand out a packet of 60 sheets of paper the same size as a dollar bill to one person. Tel them they must hand out those 60 pieces of paper in one minute. Yeah, real easy, even if your class doesn’t have 60 students in it. So make it harder where they have to hand out the 60 pieces of paper one per second, then immediately collect those pieces of paper, one per second, only to hand them back out again, etc. Tell them they have to do it for a full five minutes. Not so easy. Neither is it easy handing out $1 million, one dollar at a time every second, for the next 11.574 days, with no breaks to rest, pee, or eat. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/4 "2007-04-05T05:44:56Z")
I think I used to have a book called “How much is a million?” actually. [Here it is from Amazon.](http://www.amazon.com/How-Much-Million-Mulberry-Book/dp/0688136303/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-7876765-1941632?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175751754&sr=8-1) It is geared for young kids, but if you could swing by a library and check it out you could probably get a few good ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/5 "2007-04-05T05:51:54Z")
To visualize how **little** a million can be, have them visualize a stack of playing dice, say each is 1 cm[sup]3[/sup]. Now imagine\* a stack of these, 100 across, 100 deep and 100 tall – or 1 m[sup]3[/sup]. This stack of dice – which fits easily within a room – will contain 1,000,000 dice. Now, to visualize how **much** a million is, tell them they have to come up with the dice to build this stack… \*“It’s easy if you try…” ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/6 "2007-04-05T12:53:24Z")
I had one teacher in high school who said on the first day that anybody who could hand-write out the numbers from one to a million would automatically get an A+ in the class. Naturally, some idiots went for it. One girl, in particular, I was able to dissuade after three days when she was three pages in at 1,000 and I mentioned that she only had to do that 1,000 more times. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/7 "2007-04-05T12:55:50Z")
How about bringing in a million grains of sand? Or grains of salt? What would that be, about a gallon’s worth? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/8 "2007-04-05T13:41:13Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Does [this help](http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/million/million.html) (experiment to see how much is “inside” $1mm)? [/QUOTE] There are some pretty cute babes on that site. Ah, the life of a millionaire… ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/9 "2007-04-05T13:47:59Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] To visualize how **little** a million can be, have them visualize a stack of playing dice, say each is 1 cm[sup]3[/sup]. Now imagine\* a stack of these, 100 across, 100 deep and 100 tall – or 1 m[sup]3[/sup]. This stack of dice – which fits easily within a room – will contain 1,000,000 dice. Now, to visualize how **much** a million is, tell them they have to come up with the dice to build this stack… \*“It’s easy if you try…” [/QUOTE] I think Shadowrun requires that many d6s. > [@fessie](#): > > ``` > How about bringing in a million grains of sand? Or grains of salt? > > ``` > > What would that be, about a gallon’s worth? My lousy example: Pure water is 55.346 M, so one liter contains 55.346 mol. That liter thus contains 3.3330E25 molecules of water. Now, 1,000,000 molecules of water is 1.66E-18 mol. The weight is then 2.99E-17 grams and the volume 2.99E-17 mL, assuming that 1,000,000 molecules is enough for isotopic distribution to average out to the average molecular mass. That probably won’t slake anyone’s thirst. Have fun measuring out something that’s 2.99E-20 L, by the way. That’s only 29.9 zL (zepto liters, where zepto is the prefix for E-21.) ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/10 "2007-04-05T14:04:15Z")
You might be able to use some stats from [The MegaPenny Project](http://www.kokogiak.com/megapenny/) (like, one million pennies weigh 3.14 tons and would make a wall five feet high, four feet wide, and one foot thick). ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/11 "2007-04-05T14:09:27Z")
Find an aeriel photo via google of a packed stadium - such as a football (US) or Soccer/Football stadium from Europe or Soeth America. Some stadiums hold 50,000 people, and some large stadiums hold 100,000 people. Line up 10-20 of those pictures. We glance at a million blades of grass everyday, but how often can you show 1,000,000 people? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/12 "2007-04-05T14:15:25Z")
Here’s about 100,00 people. [http://imagearchive.psu.edu/albums/batches/beaver\_stadium1.jpg](http://imagearchive.psu.edu/albums/batches/beaver_stadium1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/13 "2007-04-05T17:13:37Z")
If you have access to a plotter try printing out a 1000 x 1000 grid. One meter square divided into millimeter increments each way would yield one million boxes. As I am writing this I am reminded of the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Million Hare”, where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck race to a TV studio to win a “million box”, which ended up being one big box with one million little boxes in it. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/14 "2007-04-05T17:30:49Z")
Or, to paraphrase Dennis Miller; “One Million Dollars, just to give you an idea of how much money that is, imagine taking one million one dollar bills, now if you give it to someone, that man would have _One Million Dollars_.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/15 "2007-04-05T18:12:01Z")
Look at time. Wait for the minute to turn. For me right now, it just turned 2:04 PM. Now I sit and wait patiently until it hits 2:05 PM. Da-dum-da-dum-da-dum whistle-whistle cough scratch sneeze and BAM, it’s 2:05 PM. Now, if I repeated that another 999,999 times, the date would be February 28, 2009. If you don’t quite that much patience, look at a clock that has a second hand. Wait for the second hand to move. This should take about a second or so. If you waited for this to happen another 999,999 times, your 1040 tax return would be late. (For US taxpayers only). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/16 "2007-04-05T18:23:22Z")
I know you’ve asked for ways to cope with a _million_ but I once worked out how to deal with a _nanosecond_ which was staggering to me. A nanosecond is to a second as a second is to 32 years. That’s _billions_ and is way more impressive. But a million seconds runs into 11 days (as **Duckster** noted upthread). Still a decent lump of time. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/17 "2007-04-05T18:45:48Z")
[QUOTE=dwc1970] As I am writing this I am reminded of the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Million Hare”, where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck race to a TV studio to win a “million box”, which ended up being one big box with one million little boxes in it. [/QUOTE] If I remember correctly, apon finding out it was a million **box** , daffy gave the prize to bugs, after which it was announced that each box contained a one dollar bill. I seem to recall a teacher 10 or 20 years ago having his/her students collect a million of something to demonstrate what I looked like, but I haven’t been able to find anything on the web. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/18 "2007-04-05T21:13:26Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] I know you’ve asked for ways to cope with a _million_ but I once worked out how to deal with a _nanosecond_ which was staggering to me. A nanosecond is to a second as a second is to 32 years. That’s _billions_ and is way more impressive. But a million seconds runs into 11 days (as **Duckster** noted upthread). Still a decent lump of time. [/QUOTE] It’s also worth noting there are [pi seconds in a nanocentury](http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1423055), or pretty close to it, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/19 "2007-04-05T21:25:56Z")
[QUOTE=dwc1970] It’s also worth noting there are [pi seconds in a nanocentury](http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1423055), or pretty close to it, anyway. [/QUOTE] Impressive! There is a God. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824/20 "2007-04-05T21:40:40Z")
Make a 100 x 100 grid of Xs or Os on an excel spreadsheet. Highlight the entire grid and print “selection” and “fit to 1 page”. This will give you 10,000 Xs or Os. Print 100 copies. Lay the copies on the floor in a 10 x 10 grid. There’s your million Xs or Os. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-ways-to-visualize-1-000-000/398824.md?page=2)