Q: How is the number 12,456,638 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 1.2456638 x 107

Why is 12,456,638 written as 1.2456638 x 107 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 12,456,638 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: 12,456,638
  • New Number: 1.2456638

Step 2

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

New Number: 1.2456638
Decimal Count: 1234567

There are 7 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 = 1.2456638

b = 7

Now the whole thing:

1.2456638 x 107

Step 4

Check your work:

107 = 10,000,000 x 1.2456638 = 12,456,638


More Scientific Notation Examples

12,456,63612,456,63712,456,63912,456,640
1.2456636 x 1071.2456637 x 1071.2456639 x 1071.245664 x 107

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