An exponential means you have some number in the exponent of another number and you raise it to that power. This is how you calculate interest rates on mortgages. Had people been fluent in exponentials in 2008, they could have said when the bank says approved, "I'm going with a 30 year fix"
Bezos? Branson? Elon Musk? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice break down why all these billionaires are going to space, how achieving orbit works, and how to wrap our heads around exponentially large numbers.
NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/show/things-you-thought-you-knew-billionaires-in-space/
Thanks to our Patrons dustin fenwick, Michael Borger, Gautam, Gayle Phillips, Stefanie Davis, Meghan Pearson, and Johannes Wagner for supporting us this week.
Photo Credit: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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