Math Shortcuts - sense of scale part 1

A sense of scale helps us better understand the world, and convey ideas more effectively. What’s more impressive?

• Bill Gates has 56 billion dollars.
• Bill Gates earned over $3000 per minute or $50 a second since Microsoft was created. Spending 5 seconds to pick $100 off the floor is literally not a good use of his time.

If you’re like me, the second statement makes your jaw drop. 56 billion is just another large number, but $3000 per minute is something vivid and “imaginable”. Let’s check out a few ways to convey a sense of scale.

Source: Mental Math Shortcuts