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> The magnitude of 2^256 is close to the count of atoms in the entire observable universe. I've always heard that even 2¹²⁸ is significantly larger than that n

> The magnitude of 2^256 is close to the count of atoms in the entire observable universe. I've always heard that even 2¹²⁸ is significantly larger than that number (which is closer to 2⁸⁰). This page seems to support that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observable_universe#Matter_content—number_of_atoms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observable_universe#Matter_con...

V1ndaar 5y ago
Nope, the rough approximation of atoms in the universe is O(10^80). Big difference!
- rvense 5y ago
  Quickly checking with Python... 2^265 < 10^80 > 2^266 So it's only 0.1% of the number of atoms in the universe?
  - codeflo 5y ago
    “Only”.
codeflo 5y ago
Look more carefully, the estimation according to Wikipedia is 10^80, which is roughly 2^266. (BTW, when converting 10^x to 2^x, times 3 is what I use for very rough back of the envelope estimations. Times 10/3 is actually almost precise, as log2(10) = 3.32…)
- 5e92cb50239222b 5y ago
  Ah, so it's just me being stupid, as usual. Thanks, at least now I know.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- FabHK 5y ago
  > log2(10) = 3.32 or, to put it in simpler terms, 10^3 = 1000 ≈ 1024 = 2^10