Q: How is the number 17,872,139 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 1.7872139 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 17,872,139 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 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 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 = 1.7872139
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
1.7872139 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 1.7872139 = 17,872,139
| 17,872,137 | 17,872,138 | 17,872,140 | 17,872,141 |
| 1.7872137 x 107 | 1.7872138 x 107 | 1.787214 x 107 | 1.7872141 x 107 |