The purpose of scientific notation is for scientists to write very large, or very small, numbers with ease.
Calculating scientific notation for a positive integer is simple, as it always follows this notation:
a x 10b
Follow the steps below to see how 71,800 is written in scientific notation.
Step 1
To find a, take the number and move a decimal place to the right one position.
Original Number: 71,800
New Number: 7.1800
Step 2
Now, to find b, count how many places to the right of the decimal
New Number: 7 . 1 8 0 0
Decimal Count: 1 2 3 4
There are 4 places to the right of the decimal place.
Step 3
Building upon what we know above, we can now reconstruct the number into scientific notation.
Remember, the notation is: a x 10b
a = 7.18 (Please notice any zeroes on the end have been removed)
b = 4
Now the whole thing:
7.18 x 104
Step 4
Check your work:
104 = 10,000 x 7.18 = 71,800
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