Q: How is the number 217,137,538 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 2.17137538 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 217,137,538 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 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 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 = 2.17137538
b = 8
Now the whole thing:
2.17137538 x 108
Check your work:
108 = 100,000,000 x 2.17137538 = 217,137,538
| 217,137,536 | 217,137,537 | 217,137,539 | 217,137,540 |
| 2.17137536 x 108 | 2.17137537 x 108 | 2.17137539 x 108 | 2.1713754 x 108 |