Scientific notation help?

Question

what are the basic rules for writing numbers in scientific notation? please explain in detail .. thanks =)

Answer 1

In standard form, the first part is a number between 1 and 9.9999... The second part is a power of 10.

Here are two examples:

(1)

447 = 4.47 x 10 x 10 = 4.47 x 10^2

Notice that the first number is between 1 and 9.999 (4.47). In this example, the decimal is moved two places to the right in 4.47 to get 447. The exponent on 10 is positive when moving the decimal to the right.

(2)

0.0032 = 3.2 x (1/10) x (1/10) x (1/10) = 3.2 x (1 / 10^3) = 3.2 x 10^-3

Notice that the first number is between 1 and 9.999 (3.2) In this example, the decimal is moved three places to the left in 3.2 to get 0.0032. The exponent on 10 is negative when moving the decimal to the left.