This question recently came up on the AP Chemistry listserv, and rather than answering it there (where I like to keep things strictly AP Chem if I can), I thought I would give the answer that I gave when I researched my book, “How To Make A Universe With 92 Ingredients‘, here instead.
The answer is ‘yes and no’, and it depends on how you count them. The relevant piece from the book is pictured below.
It’s 4.5 billion is it and not 4.5 thousand? how is that worked out?.
Yes, it’s billion, and it’s science.