Download Scientific Notation

SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
Scientific Notation is used to express the very large
and the very small numbers so that problem solving
will be made easier.
Examples:
The mass of one gold atom is
.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 327 grams.
One gram of hydrogen contains
602 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 hydrogen atoms.
How to Use Scientific
Notation
■ In scientific notation, a number in put into a general
form:
# x 10
n
# = number (1.00-9.99)
n = exponent (can be + or – )
4.50 x 103
The number 4,500 is written in scientific notation as ________________.
4.50
The coefficient is _________.
The coefficient must be a number that fits between
1.00 and 9.99.
3
The power of 10 or exponent in this example is ______.
The exponent indicates how many times the coefficient must
be multiplied by 10 to equal the original number of 4,500.
For this class, we will report all scientific notation to 2
decimal places.
To write a number in scientific notation:
1. Move the decimal to the right of the
first non-zero number.
2. Count how many places the decimal
had to be moved.
3. If the number was a large #, exp = positive.
It if was a small #, exponent = negative.
Put these numbers in scientific notation.
PROBLEMS
1) 0.000120
2) 1000
3) 0.0100
4) 12
5) 0.987
6) 596
7) 0.000 000 700
8) 1,000,000
9) 0.001257
10) 987,653,000,000
ANSWERS
1) 1.20x10-4
2) 1.00x103
3) 1.00x10-2
4) 1.20x101
5) 9.87x10-1
6) 5.96x102
7) 7.00x10-7
8) 1.00x106
9) 1.26x10-3
10) 9.87x1011
Taking #’s Out of Sci. Not.
■ THINK OF A NUMBER LINE!
■ If the exponent is positive, move the
dec. right!
■ If the exponent is negative, move the
dec. left!
EXPRESS THE FOLLOWING AS WHOLE NUMBERS OR AS DECIMALS
PROBLEMS
1) 4.90 X 102
2) 3.75 X 10-2
3) 5.95 X 10-4
4) 9.46 X 103
5)3.87 X 101
6) 7.10 X 103
7) 8.20 X 10-5
ANSWERS
1)490
2)0.0375
3)0.000595
4)9460
5)38.70
6)7100
7)0.000082