Hmmm.... A trillion dollars in pennies must weigh quite a lot. (2.5g * 10^12 = 2.5*10^9kg ~ 2.5*10^6 tons). (And, yes, even though the penny is now mostly zinc, its metal value is still worth more than a penny, thanks to the devaluation of the dollar!) If the latest earthquake in Japan can change the rotation of the Earth in a measurable way, has humankind managed to change the rotation of the Earth in a _measurable_ way due to the redistribution of mass -- e.g., reservoirs, earthmoving, deforestation, whatever ? In other words, has there been an "anthropogenic" change in the Earth's rotation? At 10:22 AM 7/16/2011, Hans Havermann wrote:
Simon Plouffe:
I was talking to a person the other day, I could clearly see that the person could not understand what enomous amount is represented by the debt of countries like US or France.
A one-trillion-dollars in $100-bills page has been on the net for a couple of years. It doesn't use your reference coins but nevertheless serves your purpose. (Better perhaps because folk still think of $100 as a sizable amount while a quarter is, well, not so much.)
http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/
The picture of 11 trillion dollars (the U.S. national debt two years) ago is here: