Scientific Notation
Scientific Notation is a way to abbreviate very large or very small numbers. The format of Scientific Notation is this: a number that has a decimal after the first digit, mulitiplied by ten with an exponent. An example is: 1.23 X 104. The exponent can be positive or negative. If the exponent is positive then you move the decimal to the right by the number of the exponent. If the exponent is negative then you move the decimal to the left by the number of the exponent. This form of numbers can express very large and small numbers depending on the exponent.
Write 123,000,000,000 in scientific notation.
To write a number in scientific notation:Put the decimal after the first digit and drop the zeroes.
Move the decimal point to the left.
123,000,000,000 to 1.23000000000
In the number 123,000,000,000 The coefficient will be 1.23
To find the exponent count the number of places from the decimal to the end of the number.
In 123,000,000,000 there are 11 places. Therefore we write 123,000,000,000 as:
To write a number in scientific notation:Put the decimal after the first digit and drop the zeroes.
Move the decimal point to the left.
123,000,000,000 to 1.23000000000
In the number 123,000,000,000 The coefficient will be 1.23
To find the exponent count the number of places from the decimal to the end of the number.
In 123,000,000,000 there are 11 places. Therefore we write 123,000,000,000 as:
For numbers less than 1 (one).
Example: Write 0.0000000000123 in scientific notation.
To write a number in scientific notation:Put the decimal after the first digit and drop the zeroes.
Move the decimal point to the right.
0.0000000000123 to 00000000001.23
In the number 0.0000000000123 The coefficient will be 1.23
To find the exponent count the number of places from the decimal to the end of the number.
In 0.0000000000123 there are 10 places. Therefore we write 0.0000000000123 as:
Example: Write 0.0000000000123 in scientific notation.
To write a number in scientific notation:Put the decimal after the first digit and drop the zeroes.
Move the decimal point to the right.
0.0000000000123 to 00000000001.23
In the number 0.0000000000123 The coefficient will be 1.23
To find the exponent count the number of places from the decimal to the end of the number.
In 0.0000000000123 there are 10 places. Therefore we write 0.0000000000123 as:
Sample Exercise
Write the follwing numbers in scientific notation.
1. 1001
2. 53
3. 6,926,300,000
4. -392
5. 0.00361
Check your answers here.
1. 1001
2. 53
3. 6,926,300,000
4. -392
5. 0.00361
Check your answers here.