How Do You Calculate The Scientific Notation Of A Number?
Scientific notation is another way of writing a very small or a very large number. It consists of two factors. The first factor is between the number 1 and the number 10. The other factor is written in exponential form as a power of 10 (10-7, or 10 to the 7th power, for instance). 8.3 x 108 is written in scientific notation.Note: when two numbers are multiplied to get what is called a product (the answer), the two numbers are referred to as factors.Note also that in this article a hypen (10-5) indicates an exponent, rather than the more common superscript. First, move the decimal point until you have a number between 1 and 10.For instance, to calculate the scientific notation of 378,000, move the decimal point so the number will be 3.78. Notice that this number is between 1 and 10.The other possibilities: 37.8, 378.000, 3780.00, 37800.0 and 378,000 would not work because they are not between 1 and 10. Thus, 3.78 is the first factor. Ask yourself how many places the decimal point was mo
