$1,784 Bilion Trillion
 

US bank customer Dalton Chiscolm could learn on Friday if he is one step closer to becoming the world's first ever billion-trillionaire.

Mr Chiscolm sued Bank of America in Manhattan's federal court in August for "$1,784 billion trillion", in a complaint that boiled down to poor customer service.

But US District Judge Denny Chin asked Mr Chiscolm to provide further evidence to support his claims by 23 October, or find them dismissed.

Judge Chin is familiar with large sums of money, having just sentenced financier Bernard Madoff to a 150-year prison term.

But Madoff's $65bn (£40bn) Ponzi scheme pales in comparison to the amount Mr Chiscolm expects from the bank.

Judge Chin called the complaint "incomprehensible", in an order released in court.

Many zeroes

The actual number, 1,784 billion trillion, is equal to 1.784 multiplied by 10 to the 24th power, or roughly 1,784 followed by 21 zeroes.

Using the International System of Units, this number is called a Yotta.

Which is how much exactly?

"The Sun has the power of a Yotta microwave ovens," says Chris Budd, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath, by way of explanation.

This unfathomable number is used mainly by scientists to measure the very small or the very large, said Dr Kevin Houston, senior lecturer at the the School of Mathematics at the University of Leeds.

But people are not meant to actually comprehend a number this size.

"I don't think the human brain is set to deal with those numbers," he said.

Completely silly'

The specificity of Mr Chiscolm's requested amount - $1,784 billion trillion - is even more curious.

International System of Units

Kilo (K) = 3 zeroes
Mega (M) = 6 zeroes
Giga (G) = 9 zeroes
Tera (T) = 12 zeroes
Peta (P) = 15 zeroes
Exa (E) = 18 zeroes
Zetta (Z) = 21 zeroes
Yotta (Y) = 24 zeroes
Source: Chris Budd

"It could be that if they did say just one billion it would seem just plucked out of the air," Dr Houston said. "Is it something to do with a date? What happened in 1784?"

Following up Dr Houston's suggestion, we found a few events in 1784 that could offer insight into the inspiration behind the number.

Is Mr Chiscolm an American nationalist? On 14 January, the American Revolutionary War ended and Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris. Or perhaps he is a classical music aficionado, for Mozart's Sonata in B flat, K454, premiered in Vienna on 29 April. Maybe he is a newspaper fan, because America's first daily newspaper, Penns Packet and General Advertiser, was published on 21 September.

Regardless of the reasoning, the monetary amount is beyond financial recognition.

"The guy wants more money than there is in the world," Dr Houston said. "It's completely silly."

Getting the claim approved by the judge may be one hurdle for this disgruntled customer. But finding the money if he won the suit would be quite another.

I sue him for 1 million billion trillion for wasting people's time

what a retard only in america can this happen. sue for any amount for anything and half the time walk away a winner

only american and british can come out with these stupid suing idea

Repost for the billionth trillionth time

Good sir I do believe this has been posteth previously.

this motherfucker again?

:repost:

i bet you he's doing it for the fame. just like balloon boy.

I think that was balloon boy's parents that wanted fame.

this is soo effing hilarious!

he obviously doesn't care about the money.
i'm sure he did this just because he was pissed off.
and now he has publicity and everything.
chances are the company he dealt with will help him out now..

lol thanks. this was a great read.

and hk20000 how is this post a fail?
you're an idiot!

Damn, some of you guys are FAIL happy. If you Fail this, we're gonna need a new button for ZhangFei's posts.