Scientific Notation

By L.D.

Scientific Notation

Now some of you may be wondering “What is Scientific Notation”, what it is is manipulating the number so it is a number between 1 and 10 multiplied by 10 as a base and an exponent. For example, 520 in scientific notation would be 5.2 x 102 because you moved the problem twice to the right. If it was 0.052 it would be 5.2 x 10-2 in scientific notation, the negative sign is what happens when it moves to the left.

Problem 1

The distance from Earth to Neptune is 2,840,000 miles. Put it in scientific notation.

Problem 1

The distance from Earth to Neptune is 2,840,000 miles. Put it in scientific notation.

2,840,000 that is how many spaces to move back and how many to multiply to get (2.84 x 106)

Problem 2

Janie walked 3,300 miles she drank 520 citrus drinks per mile she walked. How many citrus drinks did she have in total? Use scientific notation to get the answer

Problem 2Janie walked 3,300 miles she drank 520 citrus drinks per mile she walked. How many citrus drinks did she have in total? Use scientific notation to get the answer

Now first we turn those into scientific notation as (3.3 x 103) & (5.2 x 102) next we multiply them by multiplying the 10s to get 105 and multiplying the other numbers to get 17.16 which is obviously not scientific notation so we fix that by making it scientific notation (1.716 x 101) which is now multiplied with 105 to get (1.716 x 106)

Problem 3

What is 0.00056 x 455 in scientific notation?

Problem 3

What is 0.00056 x 455 in scientific notation?

First we need to put these in scientific notation as (5.6 x 10-4) and (4.55 x 102). Then we multiply them to get 25.48 (2.548 x 10). Then we put it all together to get (2.548 x 10-1)

Problem 4

Solve: 3.5 x 10-3

1.75 x 10-5

Mini Lesson!

When looking at a troublesome fraction, it often helps to put it in format with ÷.

Problem 4

Solve: 3.5 x 10-3

1.75 x 10-5

First we divide 3.5 ÷ 1.75 to get 2 and now we 10-3 ÷ 10-5 to get 102 so our answer is 2 x 102

Thank You!