Graham's Number - Numberphile

แชร์
ฝัง
  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 เม.ย. 2012
  • See our other Graham's Number videos: bit.ly/G_Number
    A number so epic it will collapse your brain into a black hole! Yet Tony Padilla and Matt Parker take the risk of discussing its magnitude. Watch with caution.
    More links & stuff in full description below ↓↓↓
    See also our video about the Googol and Googolplex at: • Googol and Googolplex ...
    NUMBERPHILE
    Website: www.numberphile.com/
    Numberphile on Facebook: / numberphile
    Numberphile tweets: / numberphile
    Subscribe: bit.ly/Numberphile_Sub
    Videos by Brady Haran
    Patreon: / numberphile
    Brady's videos subreddit: / bradyharan
    Brady's latest videos across all channels: www.bradyharanblog.com/
    Sign up for (occasional) emails: eepurl.com/YdjL9
    Numberphile T-Shirts: teespring.com/stores/numberphile
    Other merchandise: store.dftba.com/collections/n...
  • วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี

ความคิดเห็น • 7K

  • @petertimowreef9085
    @petertimowreef9085 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3616

    Mathemathicians are so funny.
    "Imagine a number that's unimaginably high. And then the answer is between that number, and 11. Childsplay really, let's go to the pub."

    • @MrCubFan415
      @MrCubFan415 6 ปีที่แล้ว +157

      Actually, the lower bound is 13 now (and the upper bound has been reduced to 2^^^6).

    • @stefanr8232
      @stefanr8232 6 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      where is link to proof?

    • @arnavanand8037
      @arnavanand8037 5 ปีที่แล้ว +114

      2 + 2 = Something between -∞ and ∞

    • @arnavanand8037
      @arnavanand8037 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Or possibly between 5 and 5454545575454545457575757575757242454545454542424545454

    • @robinlindgren6429
      @robinlindgren6429 5 ปีที่แล้ว +61

      to be fair, having reduced it to any range at all means they have narrowed it down to a ratio that approaches 0% of all numbers, that's practically being spot on!

  • @theviniso
    @theviniso 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3519

    g64/g64=1. That's the only operation that I can do involving this number.

    • @panosm2007
      @panosm2007 8 ปีที่แล้ว +563

      +Nastygamerx70 ­ (Yasser Moustaine) how about g64 * 0 = 0?

    • @panosm2007
      @panosm2007 8 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      +Грамматический нацист nice

    • @funnydogman9534
      @funnydogman9534 8 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      g64÷0=error

    • @funnydogman9534
      @funnydogman9534 8 ปีที่แล้ว +194

      3^^^^^^^^^^...(g64 arrows)3 = g65

    • @funnydogman9534
      @funnydogman9534 7 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      g64-(g64-1)=1

  • @NoriMori1992
    @NoriMori1992 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1065

    I love Wikipedia's description of how big Graham's number is: "It is so large that the observable universe is far too small to contain an ordinary digital representation of Graham's number, assuming that each digit occupies one Planck volume … But even the number of digits in this digital representation of Graham's number would itself be a number so large that its digital representation cannot be represented in the observable universe. Nor even can the number of digits of that number-and so forth, for a number of times far exceeding the total number of Planck volumes in the observable universe."

    • @philip8498
      @philip8498 2 ปีที่แล้ว +204

      this reads like something from the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

    • @RH-ro3sg
      @RH-ro3sg 2 ปีที่แล้ว +133

      And, while perfectly true, even that is an extreme understatement, in the sense that that description already is true for g1= 3↑↑↑↑3, the mere _initial number_ (with just 4 measly arrows), used to get up to Graham's number.
      Even for 3↑↑↑3 (three arrows), you'd have to repeat the 'number of digits' procedure several _trillion_ times to arrive at something humanly digestible (or at a number expressible within our observable universe as described in the quote). For 3↑↑↑↑3 (4 arrows) that number not only far exceeds the number of Planck volumes in the observable universe, but is utterly beyond human comprehension itself.

    • @andrewbloom7694
      @andrewbloom7694 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      @@RH-ro3sg They are all well beyond human comprehension. You can try to define them with things like arrow notation sure, but you can't fundamentally UNDERSTAND something like that. Not even the smartest human can.

    • @RH-ro3sg
      @RH-ro3sg ปีที่แล้ว +35

      @@andrewbloom7694 I think it depends on how exactly you'd define 'comprehension' or 'understanding'.
      In a rather strict sense - intuitively _grasping_ and _feeling_ the magnitude of a number and immediately recognizing it without conscious thought, we as humans probably don't truly 'get' any number beyond approximately 7. Beyond that, we have to start counting (or approximating), both of which are already more indirect ways of appreciating a number.
      In the sense of being to able to _visualize_ a number in some manner, I'd say our comprehension ends at around a googol, if we're being very charitable (possibly the limit is much lower). You're talking about imagery such as 'a hundred million of our observable universes, filled to the brim with grains of sand' then. I suppose that visualization of such a type is what most people think of when they say they 'comprehend' a number. But it's not the only way to get to understanding.
      Numbers such as Graham's number can still be 'understood', but in a more indirect way, namely by the procedures used to obtain them.
      Finally, there are numbers so large that even the procedures to obtain them cannot be described anymore, they can only be _characterized_ . Rayo's number would be an example.
      Also, I'm not really sure I truly _comprehend_ even a number as low as three. (As in: what is the ultimate essence of 'three-ness'?)

    • @vedantsridhar8378
      @vedantsridhar8378 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Not even the number of powers, not even the number of arrows actually!

  • @ve4410
    @ve4410 2 ปีที่แล้ว +388

    "Can you give me a ballpark"
    "It's between 11 and Graham's number"
    "That's convenient".....

    • @austinlincoln3414
      @austinlincoln3414 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Lol

    • @FatherManus
      @FatherManus ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yeah that really narrows it down.

    • @finmat95
      @finmat95 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Ehy, previously it was between 6 and Graham's number, that's an improvement, you could at least thank me.

    • @user-hu9zi2jc2m
      @user-hu9zi2jc2m 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      REALLY convenient

  • @X-3K
    @X-3K 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3944

    So basically, this number happened because someone gave a Mathematician a coloring book.

    • @bakedpotato3734
      @bakedpotato3734 7 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      LOL

    • @tomlupien4896
      @tomlupien4896 6 ปีที่แล้ว +204

      A higher-dimensional coloring book

    • @codysangster7413
      @codysangster7413 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      ye

    • @mohammednajl5950
      @mohammednajl5950 4 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      and tree 3 is because of colouring pencils

    • @spyrex3988
      @spyrex3988 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Graph theory isn't just about colouring points

  • @MordredMS
    @MordredMS 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5525

    I actually came up with an even bigger number.
    Graham's Number+1.
    I call it "Mr. Whiskers".

    • @glass7923
      @glass7923 7 ปีที่แล้ว +98

      XD

    • @prometheusxo6013
      @prometheusxo6013 7 ปีที่แล้ว +330

      I wish comments like this show up more. Now it seems like channel promotion and pepole asking for likes are tue only thing I see, stuff like this is what the internet is for

    • @vlh371
      @vlh371 7 ปีที่แล้ว +272

      The reason Grahams number is special is because it was used to solve a problem. Grahams number plus 1 isn't useful.

    • @valhalla4558
      @valhalla4558 7 ปีที่แล้ว +170

      I came up with a far bigger number. Grahams number to the power of googolplexian. I call it "Mr Puff"

    • @glass7923
      @glass7923 7 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Keyslam Games I call it "Lo Wang"

  • @leisulin
    @leisulin 2 ปีที่แล้ว +869

    But even as they almost literally said: Graham's number is unimaginably large, but it's still closer to zero than it is to infinity! Which boggles the mind even more.

    • @yam1146
      @yam1146 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      My brain is too small

    • @AA-el7ot
      @AA-el7ot 2 ปีที่แล้ว +78

      Infinity is not a number though

    • @franchstar1
      @franchstar1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

      doesn't really boggles the mind since infinity is not a number but a concept and all numbers would be closer to zero.

    • @Crazytesseract
      @Crazytesseract 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      What do you mean by "closer to infinity"? If you say 5 is closer to infinity than 3, or Graham's number is closer to infinity than one trillion, that's fine; but it makes no difference to "infinity". Graham's number can be imagined extremely few.

    • @leisulin
      @leisulin 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@Crazytesseract I mean just what I said. Actually my comment comes from some cartoon that was forwarded to me (the name of which I don't remember) depicting a kid in bed saying to his dad "I'm not sleepy yet, could you tell me a bedtime PARADOX" (not story), and the dad says "every number is closer to zero than infinity, but still we approximate large numbers as infinite". Which knocks the kid unconscious from the paradoxical shock.

  • @onebigadvocado6376
    @onebigadvocado6376 3 ปีที่แล้ว +207

    "There's a very easy analogy"
    (Promptly fails the analogy)

  • @nthgth
    @nthgth 9 ปีที่แล้ว +3111

    "There's still an infinite number of numbers that're bigger than Graham's number, right? So frankly, we pretty much nailed it as far as I'm concerned." Lmao

    • @Ida-xe8pg
      @Ida-xe8pg 5 ปีที่แล้ว +88

      I actually know graham's number G64/G64 = 1 , G64-G64 = 0 , G64*G64 = G64^2 ,G64+G64 = G64*2!!

    • @Ida-xe8pg
      @Ida-xe8pg 5 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      Graham's Number! universe collapse

    • @shyshka_
      @shyshka_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      so does it mean that the calculation is infinitely precise?

    • @danielxu3594
      @danielxu3594 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @Fester Blats And also every number is less than Grahams number at the same time.

    • @zasharan2
      @zasharan2 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      The thing is, can you actually express those bigger numbers without saying G64 + some other number, or without using that same strategy more times, and one guy named Rayo did that. He gave a statement that gave a number bigger than Graham’s number, without using the way graham got his number.

  • @123games1
    @123games1 8 ปีที่แล้ว +625

    Graham's number is so insanely large that the number representing the number of digits in Graham's number would have an incomprehensible number of digits itself!

    • @jakethornton7
      @jakethornton7 8 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      +123games1 That even starts to apply around G1.

    • @RockerSkate1423
      @RockerSkate1423 8 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      +123games1 Yeah man, even the number of digits would be a mind-blowing number, it's just insane.

    • @drinkingthatkool-aid3193
      @drinkingthatkool-aid3193 8 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      +Andrés Ramírez Yep even 3^^5 already has 0.61 x 10^(3.64 trillion)....DIGITS. And you still need to go down 7.6 trillion 3's to get 3^^^3.

    • @RH-ro3sg
      @RH-ro3sg 3 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      In fact, if you repeated that process (the number representing the number of digits of the number representing the number of digits of Graham's number), and then again, and so on, even the _number of times you'd have to repeat that process_ to arrive at a number comprehensible for average humans would _still_ form an incomprehensibly large number of digits.
      And probably repeating the process on _that_ number still would. And so on. As a commentator once put it: "Graham's number is far larger than most people's intuitive conception of _infinity_ .
      ((Coincidentally, taking 'the number of digits' approximately is what you are doing when taking the logarithm of a number, so essentially we are talking here about log(log(log((log(g64) and the number of 'logs' you'd need to arrive at something digestible))
      ".

    • @user-bc3ri8ez9c
      @user-bc3ri8ez9c 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Even the universe isn't enough to make a 1%

  • @The_Story_Of_Us
    @The_Story_Of_Us 2 ปีที่แล้ว +193

    What makes Graham’s Number so great is that despite its (literally) unfathomable size, we can using less than a page’s worth of word’s describe how to get there. We can describe what 3↑3 means, we can describe what 3↑↑3 means, what 3↑↑↑3 means and what 3↑↑↑↑3 means, then we can describe what G1 is, all the way up to G64, all of it a process of iteration. And using just the power of these symbols and descriptive iteration, we can arrive at a number with 100% precision that arithmetic literally can’t even come close to describing. So when we say that we can’t picture Graham’s Number, I think that’s doing our brains a disservice.

    • @The_Story_Of_Us
      @The_Story_Of_Us ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @Oak Tree but we do legally own it.
      Whereas a number like TREE(3) is just so big we can’t describe it all, we don’t know how to arrive at that number via iterative process.

    • @The_Story_Of_Us
      @The_Story_Of_Us ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @Oak Tree I mean obviously they’re there. If you just divide 1 by Graham’s Number for example, but in terms of something practically applicable like Tree 3 or Graham’s Number, then yeah, that’d be cool.

    • @MABfan11
      @MABfan11 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@The_Story_Of_Us Bird's Array Notation can reach TREE(3) and beyond

    • @The_Story_Of_Us
      @The_Story_Of_Us ปีที่แล้ว

      @@MABfan11 How do we even begin to know these kind of things?…

    • @BokanProductions
      @BokanProductions ปีที่แล้ว +1

      You guys know how the new Webb Satellite from NASA allowed us to see more of the observable universe? I believe it's only a matter of time before we can see enough of the universe that Graham's Number could theoretically fit it in it.

  • @ottoweininger8156
    @ottoweininger8156 6 ปีที่แล้ว +97

    The bit where he said we've narrowed it in from between 6 and Graham's Number, to between 11 and Graham's Number made me laugh.

    • @TheSpotify95
      @TheSpotify95 ปีที่แล้ว

      yeah, both 6 and 11 are tiny compared to even g1, let alone g64

    • @MABfan11
      @MABfan11 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      the new lower bound is 13

    • @AzertyWasTaken
      @AzertyWasTaken 11 วันที่ผ่านมา

      I believe that the answer to the problem is a huge number but proving lower bounds is very hard.

  • @livinlicious
    @livinlicious 10 ปีที่แล้ว +831

    The first digit of Grahams Number is 1. (in Binary)

    • @Gonzaga78
      @Gonzaga78 9 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Hurr Durr

    • @chrisroberts4599
      @chrisroberts4599 9 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      The first digit of Graham's number is 1 in Unary, Binary and Ternary. What are the odds?

    • @PattyManatty
      @PattyManatty 9 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Chris Roberts In ternary it could be 2.

    • @chrisroberts4599
      @chrisroberts4599 9 ปีที่แล้ว +81

      PattyManatty Nope, it's a one. 10^N always start with 1 in decimal, and 3^N will always start with 1 in ternary.

    • @PrimusProductions
      @PrimusProductions 9 ปีที่แล้ว +44

      Graham's number is odd
      Graham's number is divisible by 3,9,27 and all powers of 3 up to Graham's number,
      log(3,G64) is an integer
      The last digit of Graham's number is 1 in Binary (because it is odd).

  • @megatrix500
    @megatrix500 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2025

    now... Gn↑↑↑↑↑...↑↑↑↑↑Gn.
    |---Gn times---|
    Let the universe collapse.

    • @Daniel-dc5mr
      @Daniel-dc5mr 7 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Megatrix500 wow

    • @Scias
      @Scias 7 ปีที่แล้ว +242

      Just writing that endangers the existence of the universe, be careful lol

    • @eclipseskaters
      @eclipseskaters 7 ปีที่แล้ว +131

      Still an infinite amount of numbers larger than that number.

    • @ashen_cs
      @ashen_cs 7 ปีที่แล้ว +60

      Haven't even reached Aleph^1 yet

    • @abacussssss
      @abacussssss 7 ปีที่แล้ว +60

      Less than g66.

  • @Dogebloxian
    @Dogebloxian 2 ปีที่แล้ว +45

    "Graham's number is still closer to zero than it is to infinity"

    • @bunnyloverplayz1371
      @bunnyloverplayz1371 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Well obviously all numbers are

    • @jd9119
      @jd9119 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Zero and Graham's number are both numbers. Infinity isn't a number. It's a direction on a number line.

    • @jamesworley9888
      @jamesworley9888 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Space is the only thing that we know for sure must be infinite, even if the universe isn't the space beyond and within it is. The only exception would be if somewhere we were surrounded by an infinite brick wall, and again there must be an infinite amount of space to contain it , so space is and must be infinite, there is no other possibility.

    • @jd9119
      @jd9119 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@jamesworley9888 That's not true. You're making an assumption.

    • @jamesworley9888
      @jamesworley9888 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@jd9119 There is no assumption, I never said ''the universe'' IE ''the stuff IN space is infinite. I said space itself is infinite and no 'one who can think for 5 seconds is able to disagree. Tell me what wall could exist that says ''space ends here'', such a thought is utter nonsense. Especially sense the wall couldn't exist without an infinite volume. Your head would have to be thicker than that wall to even think such a thing or second guess the logic. Tell me where the space ends and anyone can debunk you simply by asking what is beyond that??? The answer is and can only be more volume IE SPACE!!!! You DMF

  • @guepardiez
    @guepardiez 5 ปีที่แล้ว +270

    Graham once taught a king how to play chess, and the king promised to give him g1 grains of rice for the first square on the chess board, g2 grains for the second square, g3 grains for the third square...

    • @apollog2574
      @apollog2574 3 ปีที่แล้ว +52

      And so the universe was annihilated

    • @donovanshea3308
      @donovanshea3308 3 ปีที่แล้ว +74

      And henceforth the Venezuelan currency was inflated beyond belief

    • @bachpham5025
      @bachpham5025 2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      Jokes aside. Even if the king promised to give him only 1 grain of rice for the first square, 2 grains for the second, 4 grains for the third, 8 grains for the forth…etc ; the king cant keep his promise with all the rice on earth!

    • @SirBojo4
      @SirBojo4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@donovanshea3308 Consequently Uncle Sam embargo'd Venezuela to space-time's fabric decay!

  • @opmike343
    @opmike343 7 ปีที่แล้ว +294

    Well, that escalated quickly...

    • @samarvora7185
      @samarvora7185 5 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Congratulations, dear sir! You've summed up the entire video!

    • @cate01a
      @cate01a 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      yes! I've just been learning about n^^x and then when you've 3^^^^3 I'm going 'woah mate calm down' but then he comes in with g2=3(3^^^^3 ^'s)3 and I mean that's worthy of a stupidly large immense number but then it's g64! woah!

    • @Combobattle
      @Combobattle 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      exponentiated quickly

    • @robertjarman3703
      @robertjarman3703 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@cate01a g64! would be Graham´s Number, factorial. Go Graham´s Number times (Graham´s Number-1), so on all the way down to one, which is a catastrophically large number, so much bigger than Graham´s number that G64 might as well be 0 compared to it.

    • @karlfeldlager7662
      @karlfeldlager7662 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@robertjarman3703 Had you said 1 instead of 0, OK. But 0? 0 is stupidly tiny, I should say. Anyway, G64! is WAY below G65, for starts.

  • @squirrelknight9768
    @squirrelknight9768 9 ปีที่แล้ว +677

    "Frankly, we pretty much nailed it!"
    Lol that cracked me up

    • @NoriMori1992
      @NoriMori1992 9 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      Same! And his face when he says it is priceless.

    • @MrFrak0207
      @MrFrak0207 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      SquirrelKnight I love that guy Hahahha

  • @sproins
    @sproins ปีที่แล้ว +63

    Other mathematicians explaining big numbers: You'd run out of space to write down all the digits.
    Matt Parker: You'd run out of pens in the universe.

  • @sebastianweigand
    @sebastianweigand ปีที่แล้ว +88

    Love the channel, keep up the great work!

    • @CertifiedAnything
      @CertifiedAnything ปีที่แล้ว +2

      $10.00

    • @Oskar5707
      @Oskar5707 ปีที่แล้ว

      dumbass

    • @denzelhobbs9982
      @denzelhobbs9982 ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@@Oskar5707 little boy is triggered

    • @tornadoreaper
      @tornadoreaper 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      ten HUMDRED dollarrrs ????? scream 😱🎵😱🎵😱😱🎵🎵🎵

    • @ender5312
      @ender5312 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      GLOWING

  • @StardropGaming
    @StardropGaming 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1760

    Plot twist: Graham's Number + 2 is prime.

    • @martinshoosterman
      @martinshoosterman 8 ปีที่แล้ว +113

      +StarDrop +Rip proving that.

    • @tannerearth0396
      @tannerearth0396 6 ปีที่แล้ว +134

      (2^G)+1 is prime. I checked

    • @dennismuller1141
      @dennismuller1141 6 ปีที่แล้ว +167

      @TannerEarth03 - GTA Boss
      actually, (2^n)+1 can only be prime if n is a power of 2. G is a power of 3, so (2^G)+1 can't be prime. primes in the form of (2^n) + 1 are called Fermat-primes btw

    • @reuben2011
      @reuben2011 5 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Wikipedia has a proof. The idea is that you can always factor a sum of odd powers (e.g. x^3+y^3). Now, if n were not a power of 2, then it has an odd prime factor p. So you can write n = kp where k is some integer. Thus, 2^n + 1 = 2^(kp) + 1 = (2^k)^p + 1^p and thus we've written 2^n+1 as a sum of odd powers (which factors).

    • @NeemeVaino
      @NeemeVaino 5 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@dennismuller1141 Fermat numbers are of form 2^2^n+1 and there is no known primes for n>4. Mersenne numbers are of form 2^n-1 and contain large primes but very sparsely.

  • @marcelinozerpa3947
    @marcelinozerpa3947 8 ปีที่แล้ว +502

    I got lost at "committee"

    • @FrostyLava
      @FrostyLava 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      The "truest" comment

    • @TianXiaoMao
      @TianXiaoMao 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I got lost at 27. 🥵

  • @grantmayberry7358
    @grantmayberry7358 5 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    8:30 "We pretty much nailed it as far as I'm concerned." Never mind the fact that that number is longer than the observable universe.

    • @BokanProductions
      @BokanProductions ปีที่แล้ว +1

      You guys know how the new Webb Satellite from NASA allowed us to see more of the observable universe? I believe it's only a matter of time before we can see enough of the universe that Graham's Number could theoretically fit it in it.

    • @TheSpotify95
      @TheSpotify95 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@BokanProductions Let's first try and find a way of writing down the full expanded value of 3↑↑↑3 (the tower itself reaches to the Sun), then go to 3↑↑↑↑3, then go from there.

    • @BokanProductions
      @BokanProductions ปีที่แล้ว

      @@TheSpotify95 Alright, I get it you don't need to explain more.

  • @emmeeemm
    @emmeeemm 3 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    lol, I love that Graham's Number is so huge that it takes multiple mathematicians to explain it in one Numberphile video.

    • @asusmctablet9180
      @asusmctablet9180 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      And yet we know that Graham's Number has a Persistence of 2. Let THAT sink in.

  • @cameronpotter2493
    @cameronpotter2493 9 ปีที่แล้ว +490

    The real problem makes wayyyyy more sense than the weird analogy about the committees and people thing.

    • @thomashudson9524
      @thomashudson9524 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Thank you

    • @xCorvus7x
      @xCorvus7x 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Care to describe it, while you're at it?

    • @NoriMori1992
      @NoriMori1992 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@xCorvus7x Ron Graham describes it in another Numberphile video.

    • @Kunal29Chopra
      @Kunal29Chopra 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      they actually didn't do a great job here, explaining the committee analogy, with the switches between Tony and Matt, also the fact that they were saying the analogy right from their head, but if read in a paper, the analogy is actually very easy to follow.

    • @adamqazsedc
      @adamqazsedc ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@xCorvus7x Graham himself actually explained the number, the proper and more understandable way

  • @IVAN3DX
    @IVAN3DX 8 ปีที่แล้ว +755

    2:38 Matt.exe had stopped working.

    • @JimmyLundberg
      @JimmyLundberg 7 ปีที่แล้ว +58

      That's when the balding process began. :(

    • @achyuthramachandran7391
      @achyuthramachandran7391 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      IVAN3DX I was reading this EXACTLY when he said "that that that that" 😂😂😂😂 killed me 😂😂😂😂😂

    • @SpaceChimpProduction
      @SpaceChimpProduction 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      IVAN3DX

    • @dranreb2250
      @dranreb2250 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Right after seeing this, youtube crashed...

    • @mrsuperguy2073
      @mrsuperguy2073 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      I didn't even notice!

  • @verdi8325
    @verdi8325 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    This is my favourite TH-cam video of all time. Absolutely blows my mind.

  • @amogus5902
    @amogus5902 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    I once heard an analogy to describe grahams number, and it kinda helps me to wrap my head around it-
    If you filled the entire universe with digits the size of a Planck length (0.00000000000000000000000000000161255 meters) and in those digits were universes filled with Planck length digits, you would not have enough digits to represent Grahams number.
    For reference, there are 10^186 Planck lengths in the universe

    • @philip8498
      @philip8498 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      i dont think you would have enough digits in there to describe G1 in there. let alone G64

    • @vedantsridhar8378
      @vedantsridhar8378 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@philip8498 In fact there isn't even enough space to write down all the digits of 3^^^3! (^ stands for 'arrow'). There isn't even enough space to write down the number of digits in the number of digits. Even the number of digits in the number of digits in the number of digits. And you keep saying 'in the number of digits' 7.6 trillion times, before you get to a number which you can theoretically write down in our observable universe, because that number contains a few trillion digits.

    • @TheSpotify95
      @TheSpotify95 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@vedantsridhar8378 Indeed. Remember, 3↑↑4 contains 3.6 trillion digits (you'd need a whole library of books to be able to print this number in text), 3↑↑5 has a 3.6 trillion digit exponent (so already we can't describe the number of digits, as that number is more than the Planck volumes that could fit the Universe), and 3↑↑↑3 actually means 3↑↑(7.62 trillion). That's 7.62 trillion, not just 5.

  • @doemaeries
    @doemaeries 10 ปีที่แล้ว +368

    In the next math test I just write 6

    • @knox140
      @knox140 9 ปีที่แล้ว +145

      tfw the answer is 5

    • @JohannaMueller57
      @JohannaMueller57 9 ปีที่แล้ว

      aha

    • @jabruli
      @jabruli 9 ปีที่แล้ว +97

      -G64

    • @JohannaMueller57
      @JohannaMueller57 9 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Jakob Lippig
      why not -infinity < x < infinity? you guys just lack brain so much.

    • @jabruli
      @jabruli 9 ปีที่แล้ว +54

      Cuz infinity contains x

  • @user-gi3ro9rm9k
    @user-gi3ro9rm9k 7 ปีที่แล้ว +194

    i will give the man who tells me the entire graham's number a nobel peace prize for stopping the chaos going inside my head right now

    • @delilahfox3427
      @delilahfox3427 7 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      Kyu Hong Kim
      That's physically impossible.

    • @vgamerul4617
      @vgamerul4617 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@delilahfox3427 tf

    • @vgamerul4617
      @vgamerul4617 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @strontiumXnitrate killed 2852 kids' hope

    • @NotAGoodUsername360
      @NotAGoodUsername360 5 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Actually, quantum mechanics forbids this.

    • @Dexuz
      @Dexuz 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      The universe may as well collapse and recreate itself a g63 times before that man ends.

  • @gupta-pw5xb
    @gupta-pw5xb 6 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    *Infinity* : Here's my son

    • @j.hawkins8779
      @j.hawkins8779 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      With TREE(3) being either the older or younger brother LOL

  • @TheJaredtheJaredlong
    @TheJaredtheJaredlong 4 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    I still can't imagine what logical sequence of steps gives you such a massive number as an answer.

    • @tristo2005
      @tristo2005 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Numbers can get really big really fast given the right equation

  • @turicaederynmab5343
    @turicaederynmab5343 10 ปีที่แล้ว +359

    I've got such a headache after watching this, just thinking about a number with 1 digit larger makes my stomach hurt.

    • @chadcarl7554
      @chadcarl7554 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      how ironic, my head hurts as well.

    • @ryan2-518
      @ryan2-518 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Suraj's opinion can die in a hole that's not ironic

    • @equilateraltriangle8619
      @equilateraltriangle8619 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      This is an antidote (to end your life(no offense)) G64^^^^(G64^^^^G64xRayo’s number)^G64.

    • @davecrupel2817
      @davecrupel2817 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Stop thinking with your stomach 🤣

    • @jaredunrot717
      @jaredunrot717 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Sadly my mind has collapsed

  • @ckmishn3664
    @ckmishn3664 7 ปีที่แล้ว +263

    According to the holographic principle the most data (bits) that can be stored in a volume is equal to the area of a bounding sphere in Planck lengths squared divided by 4. The visible universe is about 10^26 meters in length and Planck length is ~10^-35, so very roughly the visible universe can contain something like 10^122 bits of data before being "full" and collapsing into a black hole.
    Writing out, or otherwise listing the full expansion of a number without resorting to exponents, arrow-notation, recursion or other methods of compression requires a number of bits equal to the log of the number.
    Saying that your brain would collapse into a black hole if you had all the digits of Graham's Number in your head is one of the all-time biggest understatements. The entire visible Universe actually can't even contain the expansion of 3(three arrow)3. In fact even if you use exponents but just insist on printing out the exponents you still can't print out the expansion of 3(four arrow)3. Even resorting to arrow notation I think it's impossible to print out the expansion for the number of arrows any more than three levels lower.

    • @YanTales
      @YanTales 7 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      but we can imagine it, and we are imagining it with our physical brain so it can exist and it does.

    • @ckmishn3664
      @ckmishn3664 7 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      Gaming Power Cool. Please imagine it and tell me what the first digit of Graham's number is (in base 10).

    • @YanTales
      @YanTales 7 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      Patrick Wise its between 0 and 9

    • @ckmishn3664
      @ckmishn3664 7 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Gaming Power So you know for a fact it's not a 9? Well that's something I guess.

    • @YanTales
      @YanTales 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Patrick Wise my bad, between 0 and 9 including 9.

  • @rxhx
    @rxhx ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Two questions though:
    1) Why does Graham's number finish at that satisfying number G64?
    2) Why/how do we know its last digits but not the first??

    • @Machame08
      @Machame08 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Given the hidden synchronicities prevalent in math I think it would have almost seemed stranger for it to finish at some arbitrary number

    • @Travvypattyy
      @Travvypattyy ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Minecraf

    • @karlfeldlager7662
      @karlfeldlager7662 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ad 2) Take powers of two: They end in 2,4,8,6,2,4,8,6 .. but start with 2,4,8,1,3,6,1,2,5,1,2,4,8,1 .. . At the end we can compute "modulo", at the front not.

  • @SnlDrako
    @SnlDrako 5 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    Math. Where you can put it "it's somewhere between 6 and Grahams Number" and be considered precise AF, while messing up two decimal points in an equation and still fail in class. I love math.

  • @alexdabeast1892
    @alexdabeast1892 8 ปีที่แล้ว +691

    (Graham's number)!

    • @horrorandgames
      @horrorandgames 8 ปีที่แล้ว +73

      I think you would need a computer with a nuclear reactor for computing power 😂

    • @alexdabeast1892
      @alexdabeast1892 8 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      :D

    • @matthewdaws9877
      @matthewdaws9877 8 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      +AlexDaBeast g64! ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑ g64!

    • @GarryDumblowski
      @GarryDumblowski 8 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      +Wout Kops A nuclear reactor doesn't make any difference.
      It's just a power source.
      You could power any old computer with a nuclear reactor.

    • @TankleKlaus
      @TankleKlaus 8 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      +MrAlen61 How about (number of sub-atomic particles in the observable universe)! ^googolplex ?

  • @romanr9883
    @romanr9883 8 ปีที่แล้ว +179

    "we pretty much nailed it, as far as im concerned" hrhrhr

  • @jarchibald14
    @jarchibald14 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This is one of the best videos on youtube, I come back once every couple years and watch it to get again

  • @regan3873
    @regan3873 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    2:15 I love this dude’s handwriting

  • @unclvinny
    @unclvinny 8 ปีที่แล้ว +170

    I like to think about Graham's Number before I go off to sleep. Thanks, Numberphile!

    • @hymnodyhands
      @hymnodyhands 6 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      unclvinny I thought I was the only one... Why count sheep when you can count endless towers of threes?

    • @blue9139
      @blue9139 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I think of utter obvilion lol

    • @idioting
      @idioting 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      im definitely going to not sleep for 70 days after this

    • @cate01a
      @cate01a 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      ​@@hymnodyhands three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three three to the three to the three...

  • @Infinite_Omniverse
    @Infinite_Omniverse 10 ปีที่แล้ว +108

    I used to be a mathematician like you, but then I took a Knuth's Up Arrow in the knee.

    • @blue9139
      @blue9139 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Oh no there are too many

    • @skair5425
      @skair5425 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      A FELLOW SKRYIMMER

  • @claudioestevez1028
    @claudioestevez1028 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I just realized how precise all my mathematical answers have been. I've been nailing it all my life.

  • @professorgrimm4602
    @professorgrimm4602 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "The answer is between 11 and Graham's number"
    Wow thanks, that narrows it down so much. Any day now we'll have the precise answer.

  • @nuklearboysymbiote
    @nuklearboysymbiote 10 ปีที่แล้ว +806

    well nobody says it HAS to start with a 3. So... I started with a 1. And my brain didnt become a black hole because the end result (g64) is 1.

    • @norielsylvire4097
      @norielsylvire4097 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      NukeML wow dont say

    • @KaichouClips
      @KaichouClips 6 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      Has this been happening a lot? I thought it was just my browser messing up

    • @SAKURA8023o
      @SAKURA8023o 6 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      View all Graham's number replies

    • @augustackerman9404
      @augustackerman9404 6 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      *all 35 replies*

    • @felixmerz6229
      @felixmerz6229 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      *click*
      *zoop*
      gone

  • @Lordidude
    @Lordidude 8 ปีที่แล้ว +104

    Gra'ms Noombah

    • @utetopia1620
      @utetopia1620 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      There's a lot of math jokes here, but I laughed more at your comment, mainly because I'm not a mathematician.

    • @hemanthgowda5269
      @hemanthgowda5269 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Lol

    • @idkwhattoputhere616
      @idkwhattoputhere616 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      its just their accent

  • @PC_Simo
    @PC_Simo ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Donald Knuth: ”How many arrows do you want?”
    Ron Graham: ”Yes.”

  • @AceInAcademy
    @AceInAcademy 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    loved the explanation once again, hope to grasp the complete number in one go.

  • @bastian_5975
    @bastian_5975 9 ปีที่แล้ว +134

    Sum up this video in one sentence. Graham's number... IS OVER 9000!!!!

    • @coopergates9680
      @coopergates9680 9 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Bastian Jerome You mean (((9000!)!)!)!, or four consecutive factorials? Even that is less than g1 lollol

    • @bastian_5975
      @bastian_5975 9 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      ok
      so I am correct In my asesment.

    • @coopergates9680
      @coopergates9680 9 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Bastian Jerome What game invented that phrase?

    • @bastian_5975
      @bastian_5975 9 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      it wasn't a game, it was a man,and it was called Chuck Norris. He gave it to a show called Dragon Ball Z though. Goku had the line. someone asked what Goku's power level was when he went super saiyan and he responded "It's OVER 9000!!!"

    • @bastian_5975
      @bastian_5975 9 ปีที่แล้ว

      ok it came from the show Dragon Ball-Z.

  • @ckmishn3664
    @ckmishn3664 7 ปีที่แล้ว +78

    Prof. Graham did a much better job of explaining the underlying problem directly than either Tony or Matt did with the "committee" analogy.

    • @greatwhitesufi
      @greatwhitesufi 7 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      Well, he made the number.

    • @tcocaine
      @tcocaine 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      he neither made the number nor explored it. Anyone can simply do this themselves..

    • @zoewells3160
      @zoewells3160 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@tcocaine Well no nobody "makes numbers" but you know what they meant

    • @adamqazsedc
      @adamqazsedc ปีที่แล้ว

      Agree

  • @as7river
    @as7river ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Between 6 and G64.
    Matt: we've pretty much nailed it.
    That's a big nail, Matt.

  • @MKD1101
    @MKD1101 6 ปีที่แล้ว +61

    *I am already struggling to find g spot and now you want me to figure out g64 as well!!!!!!!*

  • @PhilBagels
    @PhilBagels 9 ปีที่แล้ว +250

    I know the digits of Graham's number in base 3. They are 10000000...0000000.

    • @PhilBagels
      @PhilBagels 9 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      And while I'm at it. the digits in Graham's Number in base 27 are also 100000...00000. And the same is true in base 3^3^3 (~7.6 trillion), and in base 3^3^3^3, etc.

    • @erichernandez6102
      @erichernandez6102 8 ปีที่แล้ว +126

      I know Graham's number in base Graham's number: It's 10.

    • @coopergates9680
      @coopergates9680 8 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Eric Hernandez That's nice, unless you attempt to write G2, G7, G33, etc, etc. in that base.

    • @zoranhacker
      @zoranhacker 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Eric Hernandez umm isn't it 1?

    • @zoranhacker
      @zoranhacker 8 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      zoranhacker oh right, it's not lol

  • @miklemikemuster
    @miklemikemuster 7 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    "pretty much nailed it". I love these guys.

  • @eemikun
    @eemikun 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    8:48 Tony foreshadowing the TREE(3) video that came out five and a half years later!

  • @yeetpathak639
    @yeetpathak639 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    1:12 This Madlad explains one of the most difficult to grasp nos. ever conceptualised with facing a clothes shop

  • @methanbreather
    @methanbreather 10 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    things like this happen when you don't keep your mathemathicans busy.

  • @T0rche
    @T0rche 10 ปีที่แล้ว +90

    Graham's Number ↑↑↑↑↑↑Graham's Number worth of arrows↑↑↑↑↑↑ Graham's Number

    • @BradenBest
      @BradenBest 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      G [G + 2] G
      From an abstraction of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuth%27s_up-arrow_notation where [N] = ↑(N-2)

    • @norielsylvire4097
      @norielsylvire4097 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      T0rche (g65)

    • @thehiddenninja3428
      @thehiddenninja3428 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Smaller than G66

  • @pcarlisi
    @pcarlisi 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    July 8 2020, RIP Ron Graham, the big number man...

  • @haddenindustries2922
    @haddenindustries2922 6 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    are you home between 7 a.m. and Graham's number?

  • @GarrettBorden
    @GarrettBorden 7 ปีที่แล้ว +247

    It's crazy how incomprehensible Graham's number is. It's a shame that some people can't grasp it. "Is a googolplex bigger?" Lol. G1 dwarfs googolplex. Like it's not even comparable. And G2 is exponentially larger than G1. And so on. G63 might as well be "1" compared to G64! It's just mind boggling but I love this stuff. I started watching stuff on horizontal arrow notation and it's just ridiculous how quickly numbers start growing!

    • @sebastianschon3141
      @sebastianschon3141 6 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      And then realize that this number - Grahams number - Is ridiculously small - compared to G65.

    • @danielw.4876
      @danielw.4876 5 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      If you walked a googolplex miles, and then you walked Graham's number miles, they would both feel like the same amount since your brain would have no way of remembering how long you had walked for.

    • @lindsaytang1017
      @lindsaytang1017 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      G63 might as well be 0

    • @nsprphg
      @nsprphg 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Are there more angles in a circle than G64?

    • @ZyphLegend
      @ZyphLegend 5 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Honestly, saying that G2 is exponentially larger than G1 sounds like an understatement. I feel like we need a new word to describe the absolutely mind bobbling distance between the two.

  • @bluey1328
    @bluey1328 8 ปีที่แล้ว +262

    g64? dang even math trying to get in on that nintendo power...

    • @STANKYCHEEZEMAYNE
      @STANKYCHEEZEMAYNE 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      G TO THE POWER OF SIXTY FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUR

    • @therealjoediaz
      @therealjoediaz 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      They have a stack of g

    • @Attaxalotl
      @Attaxalotl 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      The true biggest number: N64

  • @firozfaroque7521
    @firozfaroque7521 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Your videos are informative it makes me fall in love with numbers again:) Thank you

  • @subscribefornoreason542
    @subscribefornoreason542 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Here's a bigger number-
    Behold...G65
    Now I just need recognition

  • @grainfrizz
    @grainfrizz 10 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    Infinity is larger than Grahams number but infinity is for sissies.

  • @VaraNiN
    @VaraNiN 10 ปีที่แล้ว +243

    Is there a way how Graham got to this stupidly big number, or has he just made it up and said the anwer just can't be higher than this?

    • @DonSunsetAtDawn
      @DonSunsetAtDawn 10 ปีที่แล้ว +63

      He probably proved it.

    • @Maxuro
      @Maxuro 10 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Man really... is this supposed to be a serious comment? Or you are just trying to be fun? Because you're looking more stupid than funny. You really think that exists a mathematical theorem proven by just saying "Hey MAN! i made up this PRECISE and EXACT number, i'm sure that the solution of this question is under this number MAN because WHATEVER MAAAAAN, IT'S COOL!"
      Seriously?

    • @VaraNiN
      @VaraNiN 10 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      Raumo
      Yes I am serious. Why cant Grahams Number be the same just with 4s or 2s or 5s or whaterver at the start? And why is it 64 times and not 63 or 65? I just don't see any way how you can come to such a gigantic number. Of course he had some theorys that said how large the number approx. has to be, but would it matter if I add or subtract 1? Or 2? Or a million? A trillion? A google? Or even a googleplex? Would this really change Grahams number in a way that it affects the whole theorem? That's what I meant to say with my original comment. But if you can explain to me why it starts with a 3 and has 64 iterations and that it WOULD matter if I would subtract 1 that's fine. I will be happy to accept it. (But please without starting to rage again, ok?)
      P.S: Our argument seems kinda' pointless, because I think someone has proven that the solution is between 13 and 2^^^6 (2 triple-arrow 6). Still a gigantic number but much, much, MUCH smaller than Graham's Number, I think we both can agree on that^^

    • @gocity9
      @gocity9 10 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      obviously he proved it otherwise it wouldn't be so widely known.

    • @Timmoppy
      @Timmoppy 10 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That was explained in the video as to how he got there..

  • @alexanderhuber5830
    @alexanderhuber5830 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "We are narrowing in" - I love this british sense of humour; keep going guys-

  • @hamedhosseini4938
    @hamedhosseini4938 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Mother: why don't you hang out with neighbors kid?
    Neihbors kid:

    • @Graverman
      @Graverman 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      his IQ 1/g64

  • @jagjitdusanjh8356
    @jagjitdusanjh8356 10 ปีที่แล้ว +80

    What would be the final digit of Graham's Number in Base 12?

    • @MrCubFan415
      @MrCubFan415 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Either 3, 6, 9, or 0. Not sure which, though.

    • @theleftuprightatsoldierfield
      @theleftuprightatsoldierfield 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Mr. Cub Fan 415 I'm pretty sure it's 3

    • @arnold84120
      @arnold84120 6 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      it must be within this set s = { 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B} where A and B are the eleventh and twelfth digit in base 12

    • @FaceySmile
      @FaceySmile 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      you don't say

    • @anwarinianwarini2660
      @anwarinianwarini2660 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      E

  • @blazintitan277
    @blazintitan277 10 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Yup! We totally nailed it guys! Time for a coffee break!

  • @andrewbloom7694
    @andrewbloom7694 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    5:15 "And all people appear in....I forget"
    Ah yes. The Parker Graham's Number Analogy

  • @dash0173
    @dash0173 10 ปีที่แล้ว +188

    Oh and what do you get when you multiply Grahams number by Grahams numer?

    • @Infraclear
      @Infraclear 10 ปีที่แล้ว +53

      graham's number^2...

    • @dash0173
      @dash0173 10 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      wrong

    • @bangpaf2328
      @bangpaf2328 10 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      (Graham's number)^2

    • @TheTruthandEmotia
      @TheTruthandEmotia 10 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Grahams number to the power of grahams number

    • @ligueardent
      @ligueardent 10 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      2Graham's number

  • @l34052
    @l34052 7 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    I'm really bad at maths, I mean really hopeless but I've been fascinated by grahams number since I first heard about it a few years ago.
    There's just something really intriguing and fascinating about large numbers and the maths behind them.
    This and quantum mechanics are the 2 things I'd most dearly love to understand in life.

    • @andreasdluffy1208
      @andreasdluffy1208 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Now dont hate me. But I think quantum physics is much more important then math. This type of math is kinda useless in my opinion

    • @abdulazis400
      @abdulazis400 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@andreasdluffy1208 useless type of math WILL BE useful given enough time.

    • @dailybroccoli7538
      @dailybroccoli7538 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@abdulazis400 and by those time, Quantum physics would have been printed in high school text books. Higher Maths is not useful period

    • @newwaveinfantry8362
      @newwaveinfantry8362 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      You're really ignorant if you would generalize all of higher mathematics as useless.

    • @MABfan11
      @MABfan11 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@abdulazis400 wonder what Googology will be useful for...

  • @g07denslicer
    @g07denslicer 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    5:48 he was about to say hiker pubes.

  • @giansieger8687
    @giansieger8687 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    a huge step😂😂. from 6-Graham‘s number to 11-Graham‘s number👏🏼👏🏼🔥😂

  • @michaelhartley6791
    @michaelhartley6791 8 ปีที่แล้ว +56

    My year 11 class enjoyed this!!!

    • @Jiimys187
      @Jiimys187 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Michael Hartley but you’re not even a teacher

    • @d3generate804
      @d3generate804 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Have you graduated yet?

  • @9RedJohn9
    @9RedJohn9 9 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    7:20 "This is just AH" best part!

  • @EliasMheart
    @EliasMheart 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Funny way to threaten someone as a weird supervillain:
    "Hands up, or I'll think of Graham's Number, and this whole area will go down!!"
    xD

  • @NeemeVaino
    @NeemeVaino 5 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    Explaining this to kids: Forget about g64, let's talk g1, the 3↑↑↑↑3:
    Smallest thing that can theoretically have any meaning is Planck length cube, largest meaningful volume is observable Universe. How much could one contain others? Well, something less than googol², not even googolplex that is 10^googol. So, googolplex is a nice number that we can tell how big it is - it has googol digits. About g1 we cannot do that. We cannot even tell how big is the number that tells how big it is. If we start to ask how big is the number that tells how big is the number that tells how big is the number ... so on, for how long? We cannot tell how long. How big is the number that tells how long it takes? No. How big is the number that tells how big is the number that tells... ... how long it takes. Still no. We cannot tell that. Meaning of words do not last that long. That's just g1, kids.

  • @mustafamkamel
    @mustafamkamel 10 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    One of the things I don't understand: why did Graham stop at g64? I think it's already proven that you can't even imagine how big a number it is, so why don't go higher that 64?
    Also, Why is it based on 3?

    • @Nebukanezzer
      @Nebukanezzer 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Those questions you'd need to read his paper for.

  • @wheresmyoldaccount
    @wheresmyoldaccount 8 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Even plain old 2^64 -1 from the chessboard rice problem is a very large number (18 quintillion and something) to imagine.
    Once we get to 3↑↑↑3 , which is 3 with a power tree of 3's 7.6 trillion digits high... my brain gives in. 3↑↑↑3 is a number bigger than 10^3000000000000, whereas 10^80 accounts for the number of atoms in the known universe.
    And that number 3↑↑↑3 is way way way way beyond minuscule compared with 3↑↑↑↑3 (G1) which is way way way way way beyond minuscule compared with Graham's number.

    • @ecksdee9768
      @ecksdee9768 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      and to think other numbers like TREE(3) and SSCG(3) make Graham's Number look like 0 in comparison really blows your mind on how big numbers can get

    • @hyrumleishman3624
      @hyrumleishman3624 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      In conclusion: Numbers are ridiculous.

    • @TheSpotify95
      @TheSpotify95 ปีที่แล้ว

      Actually, 3↑↑5 is bigger than your 10^(large number) that you describe, since 3↑↑5 is bigger than googolplex.
      At least you can actually wrote down the full tower length of 3↑↑5 on a piece of paper. You can't do that with 3↑↑↑3 (3↑↑7.62 trillion).

  • @jamessmith84240
    @jamessmith84240 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Can we take a moment to appreciate how lucky we are to have our human brains? I just realised we have the power conceive ideas larger than the universe we live in! Crazy stuff.

  • @scottsterner4091
    @scottsterner4091 ปีที่แล้ว

    my favorite thing about graham’s number is that, despite how ridiculously unfathomably massive all of the operations required to arrive at graham’s number may be, none of those operations increase by as much as just multiplying graham’s number by 2

  • @jfb-
    @jfb- 10 ปีที่แล้ว +65

    And what happens when you take g(graham's number) and apply the Ackerman function to it?

    • @electroflame6188
      @electroflame6188 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      +IdontHaveAnyGoodNameIdeasButIHaveATaco
      You have no idea what the Ackerman function is, do you?

    • @arkues1161
      @arkues1161 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      jfb-1337 your just a kid thay thinks he learned something cool but doesn't actually gets it

    • @halo4224
      @halo4224 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      it's still smaller than g_65

    • @delrasshial7200
      @delrasshial7200 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      You fuckers

    • @GirGir183
      @GirGir183 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      You get sued by Ackerman.

  • @dragoncrystal24
    @dragoncrystal24 10 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Thanks for explaining this! Graham's number is now my new favourite number, and I can't wait to see what my math teacher initially thought about it (he's guaranteed to have heard about it before, he's a math addict)

  • @matthewflorio2705
    @matthewflorio2705 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That number is an absolute *UNIT*

  • @rohitpaul805
    @rohitpaul805 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    The simple fact that talking about numbers like the G64, TREE(3) or Rayo's number, it makes me feel that how close we are getting to infinity, but then it comes to my mind that G64, TREE(3) or Rayo's number is 0.000....infinite zeroes...1% of infinity. These things are beyond the levels of human cognition but I love it

  • @dash0173
    @dash0173 10 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    After a while, numbers just get to be scary...

  • @TheAed38
    @TheAed38 10 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    The crazy thing is that as Carl Sagan puts it "A googolplex is precisely as far from infinity as is the number 1." As big as it is, the same thing goes for Graham's number.

  • @WomanSlayer69420
    @WomanSlayer69420 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I can’t believe it! The number… it’s over 9000!!!

  • @jaggers7681
    @jaggers7681 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    Grahams number is so freakin huge that no matter how small you write the number it would still be fit inside the observable universe

  • @slidenerd
    @slidenerd 9 ปีที่แล้ว +198

    Chuck Norris came in Graham's dream and told him to try drawing squares and cubes with 2 colored pens:) He said "try it and you ll find my favorite number"

    • @MrRandomcommentguy
      @MrRandomcommentguy 6 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      Chuck Norris counted to Graham's number. Twice.

    • @Perririri
      @Perririri 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Shaggy at only 8% power can defeat Chuck

    • @Orange-wf8wh
      @Orange-wf8wh 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Janeen Phayne wrong

  • @dtripakis
    @dtripakis 10 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    I always thought the largest meaningful number was the number of atoms/electrons/whatever, in the whole universe. I was so wrong!

    • @flixyy
      @flixyy 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      .

  • @___CANNIBAL___
    @___CANNIBAL___ 14 วันที่ผ่านมา

    "How many sets you have left on the machine?"
    Me: "Between 1 and Graham's number of sets"

  • @nqnqnq
    @nqnqnq 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    "the number of digits needed to describe this number, you couldn't describe". imagine this quote nested on itself g63 (or g62, i guess) times. that would do justice to describe g64.

  • @sigalig
    @sigalig 10 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    g-2=3(g-1 arrows)3.....g-sus.

  • @trentedwards6444
    @trentedwards6444 10 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    I actually thought about something like this during class the other day, I was seeing the highest number I could get on the calculator with the least number of digits. This was how I did it ^-^

  • @youregonnaletityeetyouaway2882
    @youregonnaletityeetyouaway2882 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    fun fact: g(64) wasn't the number in grahams original paper, the original upper bound was actually much lower than that but martin gardner used g(64) to make it easier to explain so he could popularise it. the upper bound is now even lower (i think 2^^2^^2^^9?) and the lower bound has also changed to 13

    • @finmat95
      @finmat95 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      from 11 to 13? that's a huge improvement!

    • @MABfan11
      @MABfan11 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      the original number is roughly equal to G(7), which is why it has got the nickname Little Graham in the Googology community

  • @mikefitzgerald41
    @mikefitzgerald41 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    If you took Graham’s number to the power of Graham’s number - it it’s no closer to infinity than 0 is

  • @merloon
    @merloon 10 ปีที่แล้ว +171

    Just have to ask the question that has to be on everyone's mind... how does Graham's number stack up against the googolplex?

    • @numberphile
      @numberphile  10 ปีที่แล้ว +473

      no contest

    • @93MHD
      @93MHD 9 ปีที่แล้ว +471

      the ratio between Graham's number and googolplex is approximately equal to Graham's number ;)

    • @93MHD
      @93MHD 9 ปีที่แล้ว +256

      if you raise googolplex to the googolplex power googolplex times that wouldn't compare the googolplex root of Graham's number!

    • @dementy9
      @dementy9 9 ปีที่แล้ว +56

      Timotheus24 well i could replace 3 with gogolplex an do the g64 with it right? :D

    • @Quendarth
      @Quendarth 9 ปีที่แล้ว +76

      DenolcTV Why stop there when you can replace 3 with googolplex and then do g(googolplex)?