Rush commented today about the 2.9 TRILLION Dollar federal budget.
It truly is unfathomable.
But the average person could realize how big by simply telling them that
one part per million of the federal budget is
2.9 MILLION dollars.
Here's some more info:
Parts per
hundred (denoted by "%" and very rarely "pph") — denotes one particle of a given substance for every 99 other particles. This is the common
percent. One part in 10^2 (100). This is equal to 0.6 second out of a minute, or (864 seconds) 14 minutes, 24 seconds of a day (exactly).
Parts per
thousand (denoted by "‰", the
permille symbol, and occasionally "ppt") denotes one particle of a given substance for every 999 other particles. This is roughly equivalent to one drop of ink in a cup of water, or one second per 17 minutes. "Parts per thousand" is often used to record the
salinity of
seawater. One part in 10^3.
Parts per
million ("ppm") denotes one particle of a given substance for every 999,999 other particles. This is roughly equivalent to one drop of ink in a 150 litre (40 gallon) drum of water, or one second per 280 hours (11 days, 16 hours). One part in 10^6 — a precision of 0.0001%.
Parts per
billion ("ppb") denotes one particle of a given substance for every 999,999,999 other particles. This is roughly equivalent to one drop of ink in a lane of a public swimming pool, or one second per 32 years. One part in 10^9.
Parts per
trillion ("ppt") denotes one particle of a given substance for every 999,999,999,999 other particles. This is roughly equivalent to one drop of ink in a shipping
canal lock full of water , or one second every 320 centuries. One part in 10^12.
Parts per
quadrillion ("ppq") denotes one particle of a given substance for every 999,999,999,999,999 other particles. This is roughly equivalent to a drop of ink in a medium-sized lake, or one second every 32,000
millennia. Very few analytical techniques can measure with this degree of accuracy; nevertheless, it is still used in some mathematical models of
toxicology and
epidemiology. One part in 10^15.