About Cosmic Scale

What it does

Type any exponent (the number of zeros) and Cosmic Scale instantly shows you what that number is called. It gives you the short-scale name (used in the United States and modern Britain), the long-scale name (used across much of Europe), the matching SI metric prefix, scientific notation, and an expanded view of the digits themselves. Every magnitude is paired with a relatable real-world fact so the size actually means something.

Why the Conway-Wechsler system?

Most people run out of number names somewhere around "trillion." After that, names become inconsistent and sources disagree. The Conway-Wechsler system, devised by mathematicians John Conway and Allan Wechsler, fixes this by building every name from regular Latin building blocks - units, tens, and hundreds - plus a small set of linking-letter rules for pronunciation. That makes it possible to generate a single, consistent, unambiguous name for any power of ten. Cosmic Scale implements those rules in code so you can explore numbers far beyond what dictionaries list.

Short scale vs. long scale

The two systems disagree above a million. In the short scale, each new name is 1,000 times larger than the last (a billion is 10⁹). In the long scale, each new "-illion" is 1,000,000 times larger (a billion is 10¹²), with "-illiard" names filling the gaps. Cosmic Scale shows both side by side so you can compare them directly and see exactly where they diverge.

Who it's for

Students, teachers, writers, trivia lovers, and anyone who has ever wondered what comes after a googol. It runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript BigInt arithmetic, so there is no server crunching the numbers and nothing to install for the web version. A premium Chrome and Edge extension is also available for offline, ad-free use in a single click from your toolbar.

Learn about the paid extension if you want Cosmic Scale in your browser toolbar.