Q: How is the number 1,200,487 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 1.200487 x 106

Why is 1,200,487 written as 1.200487 x 106 in scientific notation?

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 1,200,487 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: 1,200,487
  • New Number: 1.200487

Step 2

Now, to find b, count how many places to the right of the decimal.

New Number: 1.200487
Decimal Count: 123456

There are 6 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 = 1.200487

b = 6

Now the whole thing:

1.200487 x 106

Step 4

Check your work:

106 = 1,000,000 x 1.200487 = 1,200,487


More Scientific Notation Examples

1,200,4851,200,4861,200,4881,200,489
1.200485 x 1061.200486 x 1061.200488 x 1061.200489 x 106

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