When I first started to write for Triond, my earnings on the first day were… one cent. Day Two saw an improvement… TWO cents. I was hoping that this daily doubling of my new income would continue, making me a multi-billionaire in a matter of weeks, but it was sadly not to be.
It may be hard to believe the above premise, but it's true. Repeatedly doubling a number forms what's called an exponential sequence, and eventually results in a figure so colossal it almost ceases to have any physical meaning.
It is perhaps best illustrated by the following story:
The Emperor of India was so admiring of the man who invented chess that he offered him any reward he cared to name. The man placed a chess board before the ruler, and asked for a single grain of wheat to be placed on the first square, two grains on the second square, then four, eight, sixteen, etc.
The Emperor was nonplussed at the apparent modesty of the request, but no doubt pleased to have got off so lightly. He did as the inventor asked.
It soon became apparent that the man was more knowledgeable that he had at first seemed. Before the halfway point on the board, the wheat was being counted not in grains but in sacks, and long before the 64th square the man had claimed ownership of more than all the wheat in India. The theoretical number of grains to fill the board would be 18,446,744,073,709,551,615.
One version of the story has the Emperor commanding the inventor to count every grain before he can claim his reward, which would no doubt prevent any wheat from changing hands.
Sneha.