17976931348623171

17976931348623171 is a numeric sequence that is often encountered in discussions of the upper limits of 64-bit floating-point numbers. It is associated with the decimal expansion used to illustrate the maximum finite value representable by the IEEE 754 double-precision format, sometimes shown as the leading digits of that value.

In IEEE 754 double-precision, the largest finite value is (2 − 2^−52) × 2^1023, which is approximately 1.7976931348623157 × 10^308. The full decimal expansion is a very large number with 308 digits to the left of the decimal point. The sequence 17976931348623171 corresponds to the initial portion of that magnitude when written without the decimal point and exponent in some representations or demonstrations. The exact mathematical description of the maximum finite double is (2 − 2^−52) × 2^1023, and its commonly cited decimal approximation begins with 1.7976931348623157.

Usage and context: This value is a standard reference in programming and numerical analysis as the upper bound of finite values for double-precision floating-point numbers. In many languages this bound is exposed as DBL_MAX (C/C++) or Double.MAX_VALUE (Java). Values at or near this limit can cause overflow to infinity in arithmetic, depending on the language and operations performed. The digits themselves do not constitute a standalone mathematical constant; they are part of a larger, widely used constant that expresses the immense range of modern floating-point representation.