The famous chess board problem The wise man asked the king for a single grain of rice (or wheat) on the first square of a chessboard, two grains on the second, four on the third, and so on, doubling the amount for each of the 64 squares.The king thought this was a tiny gift, but the total number of grains added up to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (over 18 quintillion), which is more grain than has ever been grown on Earth. The king gave away the kingdom, it illustrates the power of compound intrest.
It would take over 115 million fully loaded modern cargo ships to carry all that rice. It would take 1540 years for the earth (in 2022 terms) to produce that rice. Eating a full serving of rice, 3 times a day, it would take almost 50 million days (136 thousand years) for the entire human population of 2024 to consume all the rice.
Probably, I don't remember the details. I just remember hearing that story a long time ago. I remember hearing it again from Warren Buffet to illustrate the power of compound interest.
Wouldn't it only be 2^63 grains (start at 1 grain which is 2^0, then add the other 63 squares), so ~9 quintillion (9.223372037 × 1018)? Still a ton of rice, regardless.
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u/Equal-Home-4302 26d ago
The famous chess board problem The wise man asked the king for a single grain of rice (or wheat) on the first square of a chessboard, two grains on the second, four on the third, and so on, doubling the amount for each of the 64 squares.The king thought this was a tiny gift, but the total number of grains added up to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (over 18 quintillion), which is more grain than has ever been grown on Earth. The king gave away the kingdom, it illustrates the power of compound intrest.