Q: How is the number 12,642,305 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 1.2642305 x 107
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 12,642,305 is written in scientific notation.
To find a, take the number and move a decimal place to the right one position.
Now, to find b, count how many places to the right of the decimal.
| New Number: | 1 | . | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Decimal Count: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
There are 7 places to the right of the decimal place.
Building upon what we know above, we can now reconstruct the number into scientific notation.
Remember, the notation is: a x 10b
a = 1.2642305
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
1.2642305 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 1.2642305 = 12,642,305
| 12,642,303 | 12,642,304 | 12,642,306 | 12,642,307 |
| 1.2642303 x 107 | 1.2642304 x 107 | 1.2642306 x 107 | 1.2642307 x 107 |