Scientific notations
Scientific notation is a way of expressing numbers that are very large or very small. It is a shorthand method for writing numbers as a decimal multiplied by a power of 10. In scientific notation, a number is expressed in the form
a x 10^b
where
- a is a number between 1 and 10,
- b is an integer (positive or negative) denoting the power of 10.
For example,
- 1,000,000,000 can be written in scientific notation as 1 x 10^9
- 0.0000001 can be written in scientific notation as 1 x 10^-7
Scientific notation is commonly used in scientific and engineering fields where very large or very small numbers are encountered. It helps to simplify and compare numbers on a similar scale.
Scientific notation is a way of expressing numbers that are very large or very small. It is commonly used in scientific and mathematical calculations.
To express a number in scientific notation, follow these steps:
1. Write the number with one nonzero digit to the left of the decimal point. For example, if the number is 245, write it as 2.45.
2. Count the number of decimal places the decimal point needs to be moved to make the number between 1 and 10. Move the decimal point to the right if the original number is greater than 1, or to the left if the original number is less than 1.
For example:
- If the original number is 245, you would move the decimal point two places to the left, so it becomes 2.45 × 10^2.
- If the original number is 0.00245, you would move the decimal point three places to the right, so it becomes 2.45 × 10^-3.
3. Write the number in the form of a coefficient multiplied by a power of 10, using the notation "× 10^". The coefficient is the number you obtained in step 1, and the power of 10 is the number of spaces you moved the decimal point in step 2.