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The problem with defining order of magnitude

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The order of magnitude of a number gives an idea about the size of the number. It's a frequently employed concept in mathematics, physics, and other sciences — whenever we have to deal with very large numbers. For the most part, it's used to see how a big number compares with another big number. For instance, if two large numbers have the same order of magnitude, we can infer they have roughly the same size. The average Asian elephant is two orders of magnitude heavier than the average human. (Image via Pixabay ) In a general sense, the order of magnitude of a number is the smallest power of 10 required to represent the number. For example, the order of magnitude of the number 89 is 2 — for the simple reason that 100, or 10 2 , is the smallest multiple of 10 that best represents 89. But, as we will discover below, there's a problem with this line of reasoning. The order of magnitude appears to lack a universal definition. Many people have defined it in many ways.