What's the largest number Google calculator can deal with?
After careful finetuning of my search string, I've concluded the highest number Google can stomach is somewhere around 1.79769313 × 10308.
How did I get this number?
Well, the equation grew organically: Siliziumleben posted his results for teaspoons in a cubic lightyear. Then femtoliters in a cubic megaparsec. I upped the ante to femtoliters in a cubic teraparsec, but there was still room. I had to figure out how far up and down in the naming of multiples of a thousand google can go.
Turns out it's yotta (1024) in the > inf direction and yocto (10-24) for values approaching zero. So, there I was with yoctoliters in a cubic yottaparsec. By that time, it had become less a race of getting the most outlandish units to clash and more of a race for the highest number Google could produce. I added multipliers to push beyond 10300, and finally found a brick wall. Google would tell me that there were infinitely many cubic yoctometers in (18 !) times googol (cubic yottaParsecs). The rest, as they say, is history!
Here's the exact search string that I ended up using:
Extending the 12.24somethingsomething multiplier beyond 16 digits of the fraction is left to the reader as an exercise : )
Update: I have been informed that Google works with 64Bit numbers, and that the highest number Google can deal with is therefore 2^(2^64) - 1. While you can't plug that into Google Calculator (the intermediate result 2^1024 is too large to handle), you can approximate it with (2^1023) * 1.999999999999999 = 1.79769313 × 10308.
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What's the largest number Google Calculator can deal with?

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Comment from: Visitor [Visitor]
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15/11/07 @ 23:32 | Permalink
Limit = 10**309 = 10^309Comment from: Visitor [Visitor]
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15/11/07 @ 23:34 | Permalink
Sorry: it's around 9.9**308Comment from: Visitor [Visitor]
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15/11/07 @ 23:35 | Permalink
I mean ~9.9**309Comment from: wayfinder [Member]— 16/11/07 @ 14:41 | Permalink
No, it's not. Try for yourself. Google "9.9 * 10^308" and you get web results. Google "9.9 * 10^307" and you get a calculator result.As I posted in the update: the limit is 2^1024.
Comment from: visitor [Visitor]
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19/11/07 @ 18:29 | Permalink
1) 9.9**309 is NOT 9.9 * 10^309. Actually, 9.9**309 = 9.9^309 = 4.47997026 × 10^307.But yeah, 2^1024 seems to be the supremum.
Comment from: gpatton [Visitor]
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27/12/07 @ 22:02 | Permalink
In measuring a distance from point A to point B, I thought the limit for Google would be 3.08568025 x 10^151 meters?Comment from: wayfinder [Member]— 29/12/07 @ 22:15 | Permalink
I don't know! How did you arrive at that number?Comment from: Eric [Visitor]
· http://www.characterplanet.com—
01/03/08 @ 15:17 | Permalink
"After careful finetuning of my search string, I've concluded the highest number Google can stomach is somewhere around 1.79769313 × 1030" Seriously this is hardcore and I didn't know it even had a limit to its calculation abilities...well done sir.Comment from: visitor [Visitor]
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02/07/08 @ 12:00 | Permalink
heh :) nice postComment from: Robert H Nolette [Visitor]
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19/10/08 @ 01:57 | Permalink
The largest number is google - with one houndred zeros- or- one with one thousand zeros and thats the truth google is the largest number ever trust me thankyou remember google is the largest number dont forget google is the largest number ever thankyou.Comment from: jamie [Visitor]
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02/12/08 @ 18:32 | Permalink
well i got 10 ^ 308.25471555 through trial and error. the number gets bigger but i am not bothering to take things to far.Comment from: pchoate [Visitor]
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31/03/09 @ 01:00 | Permalink
I find Google won't calculate:1.79769313486231696598*10^308
I find Google starts complaining about word length at:
1.797693134862316965979999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999*10^308
but the calculator still works with direct entry to the URL locator until
"http://www.google.com/search?q=1.797693134862316965979999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999*10^308" - which hits the 2048=2^11 length URL limit
Interestingly if I try 17.976... instead of 1.7976 I get similar behavior but for a lower manitissa:
17.976931348623166329999... * (10^307)
Comment from: ChrisM [Visitor]
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16/07/09 @ 15:51 | Permalink
You lot are bonkers!!Oh, and to the person that says the biggest number ever is a Google, what is a Google+1, or ever a Google * 10 then??!
:o)
Comment from: Evan [Visitor]
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03/01/10 @ 06:44 | Permalink
The largest number on my calculator (Home TI) is ((1/3*3+9)*10)10^98 = 9.9 repeating (subtext)*10 (end subtext)^99. PS: I could be wrong. I'm only in the ninth grade.Comment from: Palmer Cibrian [Visitor] · http://boosterbaby.net/graco-travel-cot— 02/03/10 @ 22:52 | Permalink
So I'm happy I added your blog to my bookmarks, otherwise I'd have missed this! Good post.