Scientific notation

 

Standard decimal notation (base 10 notation)

Base 10 refers to the numbering system in common use.  When you write “316”, the “3” means 300, the “1” means 10, and the “6” means 6.

This can be written 316 = 3*10² + 1*10¹ + 6*10⁰

Expanded notation

Method of writing numbers as the sum of powers of ten or as the sum of its units, tens, hundreds, etc.

Example: 316 = 3 x 100 + 1 x 10 + 6 =300 + 10 + 6

Scientific notation

Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers too large or small to be conveniently written in standard decimal notation.

For example, instead of writing 65,000,000, we write 6.5 x 10⁷

 

The first number 6.5 is called the coefficient. It must be greater than or equal to 1 and less than 10.

The second number  (10) is called the base.

The third number (7) is called the exponent or power of ten.

 

DE08      Scientific Notation 1

DE10      Scientific_Notation 2

DE02      Converting to Standard_Form 1

DE03      Converting to Standard_Form_2