As Carl Sagan once told us, there are "billions and billions" of galaxies. Actually, astronomers estimate that there are 100 billion galaxies in the visible universe. That seems like an incomprehensibly large number,....except when one considers all of the passive discrete components that are assembled each year... more than 1000 billion.
Recently, I have been doing some work with my colleagues at Indium Corp and Speedline Re 01005 passives (0.01 (0.25mm) by 0.005 (0.125mm) inches). These little guys are literally smaller than a grain of sand. Each one is individually manufactured and tested.
Assuming a thickness of about 0.005 in (0.125mm), a cubic meter could contain 256 billion 01005 passives! At $0.02 a piece that is $5 billion dollars that could fit in the back of a van!
Somehow to me, "billions and billions" just doesn't seem so lareg now!
Cheers,
Dr. Ron