This is correct.  10^n is 10^n no matter where you are, it is a (as far as
we know) universal constant.  The problem comes with terminology.  A
"thousand" is the same in US/UK (10^3), so is a "million" (10^6) and,
therefore, so would a "thousand million"  (10^3 x 10^6 = 10^9), but in the
US a "thousand million" is also known as a "billion" but not so in the UK,
it is still a "thousand million" (Or also a "milliard").  The UK reserve the
word "billion" to describe a "million million" (which is known as "trillion"
in the US).  Also, a UK "trillion" is a "million million  million" (quite
the mouthful) or 10^18 ("million"^3, "quadrillion" = "million"^4, etc.). All
in all, it is always better to use scientific notation so as to keep
confusion about such large numbers to a minimum when talking to an
international audience.

-tgq

"Anders K." <and### [at] f2scom> wrote in message
news:3bcae9df$1@news.povray.org...
> > The vagueness of your reply in my attempt to nail down its meaning
merely
> > underscores the barrier to technical communication in international
> audiences
> > from the use of either the terms "thousand" or "million".  Americans
won't
> > know what a non-American really means; I'm afraid I'll never know what
you
> > mean...
>
> FYI, my dictionary gives two definitions of "billion" (the American 10^9
and
> the British 10^12) but only one definition for "million" (10^6) and one
> definition for "thousand" (10^3). So IMHO there can be no ambiguity in
> saying thousand million.
>
>
>

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