About Scientific Notation Formula
Scientific notation is way of expressing a given quantity as a number with the required number of significant digits multiplied by 10 to the appropriate power, such as 6.022 x 1023. (Avogadro constant). It is a method of displaying extremely large or extremely small numbers in a more straightforward manner. The scientific notation allows us to represent extremely large or extremely small numbers by multiplying single-digit numbers by 10 raised to the power of the exponent. If the number is very large, the exponent is positive; if the number is very small, the exponent is negative. Let's look at the formula for scientific notation.
A scientific notation is a way of writing a number, an equation, or an expression in a way that adheres to a set of principles. Writing a high number in number form, such as 8.6 billion, is not only ambiguous but also time-consuming, and there is a probability that we will write a few zeros less or more when doing so. We utilise scientific notation to represent very large or very small numbers simply. The scientific notation formula or broad formulation of scientific notation is:- a × 10b; 1 ≤ a < 10 'a' stands for any number from 0 to 10 (higher than 0 and less than 10), where
Scientific Notation Rules
To calculate the power or exponent of 10, we must first establish how many places the decimal point must be moved after the single-digit integer. If the given integer is a multiple of 10, the decimal point must be moved to the left, and the power of ten must be positive.
- Example: 6000 = 6 × 103 is in scientific notation.
If the specified value is less than 1, the decimal point must be moved to the right, resulting in a negative power of ten.
- Example: 0.0007 = 7 × 0.0001 = 7 × 10-4 is in scientific notation.
Positive and Negative Exponent
When expressing huge numbers in scientific notation, we utilise positive exponents for base 10.
- Example: 8000000 = 8 x 106, where 6 is the positive exponent.
We utilise negative exponents for base 10 when expressing any little values in scientific notation.
- Example: 0.00009 = 9 x 10-5, where -5 is the negative exponent.
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