scientific notation please exlain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_notation
2.51*10^2=251 is an example try to figure out what i did
Certainly! Scientific notation is a way of writing very large or very small numbers in a more concise and convenient form. It is often used in scientific and mathematical calculations.
In scientific notation, a number is expressed as the product of two parts: a coefficient and a power of 10. The coefficient is a decimal number greater than or equal to 1 but less than 10, while the power of 10 indicates how many places the decimal point must be moved to get the original number.
To convert a number to scientific notation, follow these steps:
1. Identify the coefficient: Find the first non-zero digit from the left and all the digits that follow it. For example, in the number 123,456, the coefficient would be 1.23456.
2. Determine the power of 10: Count the number of places the original decimal point needs to be moved to get the coefficient between 1 and 10. If you moved the decimal point to the right, the power is positive; if moved to the left, the power is negative. For example, if we move the decimal point 5 places to the left in our previous example, the power of 10 would be -5.
3. Write the number in scientific notation: Combine the coefficient and the power of 10 using the multiplication sign. Our example would be written as 1.23456 x 10^(-5).
Scientific notation is helpful when dealing with very large or small numbers, as it simplifies calculations and comparisons.