Q: How is the number 258,460,890 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 2.5846089 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 258,460,890 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 | . | 5 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| 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 = 2.5846089 (Please notice any zeroes on the end have been removed)
b = 8
Now the whole thing:
2.5846089 x 108
Check your work:
108 = 100,000,000 x 2.5846089 = 258,460,890
| 258,460,888 | 258,460,889 | 258,460,891 | 258,460,892 |
| 2.58460888 x 108 | 2.58460889 x 108 | 2.58460891 x 108 | 2.58460892 x 108 |