Scientific notation allows us to easily handle very large numbers or very small numbers. For example, instead of writing 0.0000000078, we write 7.8 x 10-9. So, how does this work? We can think of 7.8 x 10-9 as the product of two numbers: 7.8 (the digit term) and 10-9 (the exponential term). Here are some more examples of scientific notation.
10000 = 1 x 104 |
24327 = 2.4327 x 104 |
1000 = 1 x 103 |
7354 = 7.354 x 103 |
100 = 1 x 102 |
482 = 4.82 x 102 |
10 = 1 x 101 |
89 = 8.9 x 101 (not usually done) |
1 = 100 |
4.5 = 4.5 x 100 (not usually done) |
1/10 = 0.1 = 1 x 10-1 |
0.32 = 3.2 x 10-1 (not usually done) |
1/100 = 0.01 = 1 x 10-2 |
0.053 = 5.3 x 10-2 |
1/1000 = 0.001 = 1 x 10-3 |
0.0078 = 7.8 x 10-3 |
1/10000 = 0.0001 = 1 x 10-4 |
0.00044 = 4.4 x 10-4 |
Remember: A positive exponent means a big number. A negative exponent means a small number.