Q: How is the number 172,573,322 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 1.72573322 x 108
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 172,573,322 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 | . | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Decimal Count: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
There are 8 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 = 1.72573322
b = 8
Now the whole thing:
1.72573322 x 108
Check your work:
108 = 100,000,000 x 1.72573322 = 172,573,322
| 172,573,320 | 172,573,321 | 172,573,323 | 172,573,324 |
| 1.7257332 x 108 | 1.72573321 x 108 | 1.72573323 x 108 | 1.72573324 x 108 |