Expert: Steve Holleran - 4/13/2007

Question
Greetings.  If I have a report that is showing numbers in millions, can you tell me what the following would indicate when they are shown:  

2,845

2.845

The only difference is using a comma vs. a period

Thanks,


Answer
Hi Bob,

If these numbers are expressed as millions, then to get the actual number, you would move each decimal point six places (since 1 million = 10^6)

In 2,845, the decimal point is understood to be at the right hand end of the number:  2,845.
So, moving it six places amounts to adding six zeros:

2,845 million = 2,845,000,000 (2 trillion, 845 million)

For the other number, 2.845, moving the decimal six places  gets us:

2.845 million = 2,845,000 (2 million, 845 thousand).

I hope this helps you out.

Steve Holleran