MATH Question of the day:  HOW MUCH IS $787 Billion???

Dr. Robert J. Rapalje, Semi-Retired

Seminole State College of Florida

Sanford, FL  32773

February 14, 2009

The Congress of the USA has just passed a $787 Billion Stimulus/Spending Bill!! 

If $787 BILLION in $1 bills are neatly stacked in a single stack,

how tall would the stack be?

If these were $20 bills, how tall would the stack be?

SOLUTION (SHOWING ALL WORK!):

Is Wiki correct? 

Assuming that the dollar bill is 0.0043 inches thick, then there will be approximately  dollars per inch.  NOTE:  This is does not allow for "air" or wrinkled bills!

Multiply this times 12 to change it to feet, and then by 5280 feet to change it to miles, and you have approximately 233*12*5280 = 14,800,000 dollars per mile. 

[Note: If you use a slightly more accurate calculator value of and multiply times 12 and 5280, you get approximately  232.558*12*5280 = 14,700,000 dollars per mile.] 

Now, a BILLION dollars is 1,000,000,000 dollars.  To see how many miles in a stack of a BILLION dollars, divide  miles per BILLION dollars!  Alternatively, divide  miles per BILLION dollars!  These answers and the WikiAnswers are slightly different due to accuracy in rounding off the numbers.  

Multiplying times $787 billion gives you a stack of money between 53,300 and 53,500 miles high.

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