Q: How is the number 14,731,171 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 1.4731171 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 14,731,171 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 | . | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 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 = 1.4731171
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
1.4731171 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 1.4731171 = 14,731,171
| 14,731,169 | 14,731,170 | 14,731,172 | 14,731,173 |
| 1.4731169 x 107 | 1.473117 x 107 | 1.4731172 x 107 | 1.4731173 x 107 |