Q: How is the number 121,185,881 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 1.21185881 x 108

Why is 121,185,881 written as 1.21185881 x 108 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 121,185,881 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: 121,185,881
  • New Number: 1.21185881

Step 2

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

New Number: 1.21185881
Decimal Count: 12345678

There are 8 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 = 1.21185881

b = 8

Now the whole thing:

1.21185881 x 108

Step 4

Check your work:

108 = 100,000,000 x 1.21185881 = 121,185,881


More Scientific Notation Examples

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1.21185879 x 1081.2118588 x 1081.21185882 x 1081.21185883 x 108

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