A new way to look at what a Trillion Dollars really is.

gecko109 · April 12, 2011 7:09AM

Here I am, very bored once again....bored yet inquisitive. So I decided to do one of my favorite things, and play with some basic numbers and math. My mission this afternoon was to calculate what a trillion dollars in all $100 bills would look like in relation to a football field. The results are startling!

$100 bill = 6" x 2.5"

$1 trillion = 10,000,000,000 notes of $100 each

Square root of 10,000,000,000 = 100,000 (so thats 100,000 bills x 100,000 bills)

100,000 x 6" = 50,000 ft

100,000 x 2.5" = 20,800 ft

50,000 ft x 20,800 ft = 1 billion square ft

American football field (end zone to end zone) = 300 ft x 160 ft = 48,000 square ft.

1 billion / 48,000 = 21,701.....thats 21,701 football fields COMPLETELY covered by a single layer of $100 bills.

A $100 bill is .0043" thick.

1 / .0043 = 232

232 brand new crispy $100 bills in a stack = 1" high

21,701 / 232 = 93.5 inches

93.5 /12 = 7.8 ft.

Conclusion:

1 trillion dollars....in all $100 notes....would cover an entire football field....end zone to end zone...to a depth of almost 8 feet high!!!!!

Stated another way, the entire U.S. national debt....currently....if paid in full in brand new, crisp $100 bills....would cover an entire football field and be over 100 feet tall.

Im gonna do a few more calculations on what a trillion would look like in relation to "x". Anyone have any requests?

pf70collector · April 12, 2011 7:44AM

There are actually web sites that show it graphically too.

What a Trillion Dollars looks like.

gecko109 · April 12, 2011 8:02AM

<< There are actually web sites that show it graphically too.

What a Trillion Dollars looks like. >>

Nice! And some members here think the skies are blue and everything is just fine that we....as a nation....owe over 14 of those "piles".

And just an FYI...a little tidbit if you will......our current obligations on the INTEREST alone on our outstanding debt....per year.....is about half of that massive pile...or $400 billion. Ponder that for a few minutes. Just to service the interest only, the U.S. would have to print that much currency every year......interest people....JUST interest!

BAJJERFAN · April 12, 2011 8:36AM

As a point of interest IIRC right before the Iraq War started, the Hussein brothers made a sizeable withdrawal of I believe $2 billion from the bank of Baghdad. it was all in the form of $100 bills and took 6 semi trucks to haul it away.

derryb · April 12, 2011 8:39AM

<< Nice! And some members here think the skies are blue and everything is just fine that we....as a nation....owe over 14 of those "piles".

>>

the skies are gray. However, quantity or size doesn't really matter to the 2W's (Wash./Wall St) when they can create all they need out of thin air or make that big old pile worth less.

gecko109 · April 12, 2011 9:04AM

<< 

<< Nice! And some members here think the skies are blue and everything is just fine that we....as a nation....owe over 14 of those "piles".

>>

the skies are gray. However, quantity or size doesn't really matter to the 2W's (Wash./Wall St) when they can create all they need out of thin air or make that big old pile worth less. >>

Agreed. But it DOES matter to me when I have to choose between keeping $15,000 in the bank (at 2% interest), or purchasing another 10oz of gold.

When I look at pf70's link and see what a stack of $10,000 looks like......then see what kind of stack it takes just to service the interest only on our current debt....my decision to buy gold becomes that much easier!

roadrunner · April 12, 2011 9:43AM

<< 

<< There are actually web sites that show it graphically too.
What a Trillion Dollars looks like. >>

Nice! And some members here think the skies are blue and everything is just fine that we....as a nation....owe over 14 of those "piles".

And just an FYI...a little tidbit if you will......our current obligations on the INTEREST alone on our outstanding debt....per year.....is about half of that massive pile...or $400 billion. Ponder that for a few minutes. Just to service the interest only, the U.S. would have to print that much currency every year......interest people....JUST interest! >>

The amount of over the counter derivatives that our largest 25 banks have made bets on, would be approx 300X the size of that original 8 ft ($1 Trill) pile....or nearly 1/2 mile.
If $5 bills replaced those $100's, then the pile would extend up approx 20 miles...or into space.

roadrunner

AUandAG · April 12, 2011 10:41AM

Anyone that has flown into Las Vegas has probably seen our Lake Mead. The largest man made lake
in the United States. "Formed by water impounded by the Hoover Dam, it extends 112 miles (180 km) behind the dam, holding approximately 28,500,000 acre feet (35.2 km3) of water."
At the present level of water, Lake Mead contains 9 trillion gallons of water. Hmmmmm, that's a lake that is over 700'
deep and 100 miles long at the present time. Add that to Lake Powell, upriver, and you would equal the Nat'l debt. At full
level both would be about 18 trillion gallons of water.
bob

RedHerring · April 12, 2011 3:43PM

<< Anyone have any requests? >>

See if you can cover the State of Georgia with $100 bills.

It ain't peanuts you know.

OzzyAndy · April 12, 2011 8:39PM

What we need to compare it to is what 300 million people look like. Here's 1 million:

VikingDude · April 12, 2011 9:44PM

<< Anyone have any requests? >>

This is the Precious Metals forum - lets see some calcs with PM's!

gecko109 · April 12, 2011 10:49PM

<< 

<< Anyone have any requests? >>

This is the Precious Metals forum - lets see some calcs with PM's! >>

I did one a few months ago on Engelhard 100 oz silver bars. Again, it was a shocking result! To cover the entire 14 trillion dollar U.S. debt, you would have to completely cover an entire football field with 100 oz silver bars as high as an 8 story building!!!!

But that was at $32 silver.

pmac · April 12, 2011 11:57PM

<< 

<< 

<< Anyone have any requests? >>

This is the Precious Metals forum - lets see some calcs with PM's! >>

I did one a few months ago on Engelhard 100 oz silver bars. Again, it was a shocking result! To cover the entire 14 trillion dollar U.S. debt, you would have to completely cover an entire football field with 100 oz silver bars as high as an 8 story building!!!!

But that was at $32 silver.

>>

The pile is shrinking, down to 6 stories, still quite a "story".