Q: How is the number 21,500,761 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 2.1500761 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 21,500,761 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: | 2 | . | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 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 = 2.1500761
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
2.1500761 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 2.1500761 = 21,500,761
| 21,500,759 | 21,500,760 | 21,500,762 | 21,500,763 |
| 2.1500759 x 107 | 2.150076 x 107 | 2.1500762 x 107 | 2.1500763 x 107 |