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Engineer Builds Machine With 100 Gears That Represents A Googol, A Number Greater Than All The Atoms In The Known Universe.
On March 1, 2020, just before turning 32, Dutch engineer Daniel de Bruin claimed to have reached 1 billion seconds of life. To mark the date, he built a unique machine: a gear system that represents the googol number — or 1 followed by 100 zeros.
The engineer’s creation quickly captured attention on social media due to the absurd scale involved.
De Bruin explained that the goal was to give a visual shape to a number practically impossible to represent in the physical world.
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“It’s a number larger than the number of atoms in the known universe,” he wrote when presenting the project.
How The Googol Machine Works
The structure created by the engineer has 100 gears connected in sequence. Each one is linked to the next by a motion reduction system in the ratio of 1 to 10.
This means that the first gear must turn 10 times for the second to complete one turn. The third only moves after 10 turns of the second, and so on.
The idea repeats until the hundredth gear. With this logic, the number of rotations needed for the last wheel to turn just once equals 10 raised to the power of 100 — precisely the googol. In absolute numbers, it would be something like:
10.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000
The vastness of the calculation illustrates how symbolic the machine is.
Even if it works for real, there isn’t enough energy available to make the last gear turn just once.
This is because the amount of motion and force needed exceeds the limits of the universe itself.
The Time Required Would Be Unimaginable
Besides physical effort, time also becomes an obstacle. According to De Bruin, the first gear turns about 1,000 times per hour. Even so, for the fourth wheel to complete a turn, the first must make 1,000 rotations. The pattern repeats exponentially. Each new gear makes the challenge even more extreme.
Considering this proportion, the time required for the last gear to turn is practically eternal.
Even assuming each gear takes only one second to complete 10 turns, the total duration would still far exceed the estimated age of the universe, which is 13.8 billion years.
The structure itself also limits reach. Even if the machine is running, the laws of physics make it impossible for it to operate long enough.
The mechanical wear, the need for constant energy, and friction would cause the structure to stop long before.
Visualizing The Impossible
Daniel de Bruin live-streamed the operation of the machine in 2020. During a one-hour, it was possible to watch the first gears in action.
The fourth wheel managed to turn, but the pace drastically slows down at each level. The system continues to function, but with no expectation of reaching the end.
“For the last gear to turn once, the first must rotate the equivalent of a googol. It would require more energy than the entire universe to do that. This impresses me,” declared De Bruin when sharing the project.
Even without practical utility, the machine serves as a tool for reflection. It offers a concrete way to imagine an incomprehensible number.
According to the BBC, the estimated number of atoms in the universe is 10^80 — a value surpassed by a googol, which represents 10^100.
Engineering To Celebrate Time
The motivation behind the invention was also surprising. Instead of a birthday cake or a party, Daniel de Bruin decided that completing 1 trillion seconds deserved something more symbolic.
He chose to translate time into gears — and ended up creating a structure that points to infinity.
With that, his machine became not only a technical curiosity but also a way to celebrate the passage of time. A personal tribute to science, mathematics, and mechanics — all at once.
Pero que pasaría si lo giráramos en sentido inverso
Na hipótese do movimento possível, todas as engrenagens giram desde o primeiro instante, sendo cada uma delas a uma fração correspondente a 1 giro dividido por 10**n, onde b é a sua posição relativa na **** de reduções. A última engrenagem girará a 1/googol. Em zero atrito, zero força.
Tá, muito engenhoso, mas pra que serve a máquina???
Pra nada!! Efetivamente nada.