15.424 x 10^16 do I need to move the decimal point one to the left.
No, you need to move the decimal point 16 places to the right.
To determine if you need to move the decimal point one place to the left for the number 15.424 x 10^16, you need to convert it to decimal notation. The exponent of 10^16 tells us how many places the decimal point should be moved. In this case, since the exponent is positive, you need to move the decimal point to the right.
Starting with 15.424, move the decimal point 16 places to the right:
15.424 x 10^16 = 154,240,000,000,000,000
So, you don't need to move the decimal point one place to the left for this number.
To determine whether you need to move the decimal point one place to the left when dealing with scientific notation, you can refer to the exponent. In scientific notation, the number is written as a product of a decimal number between 1 and 10 (in this case, 15.424) and a power of 10 (in this case, 10^16).
In order to convert this number to its standard form, you need to multiply the decimal number by 10 raised to the power of the exponent.
For instance, 15.424 x 10^16 can be calculated as:
15.424 multiplied by (10 raised to the power of 16).
To simplify this calculation, you multiply the decimal number by 10 and then raise the result to the power of 16.
So, moving the decimal point one place to the left would result in 1.5424 x 10^17, not 15.424 x 10^16.