Q: How is the number 261,218,086 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 2.61218086 x 108

Why is 261,218,086 written as 2.61218086 x 108 in scientific notation?

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 261,218,086 is written in scientific notation.

Step 1

To find a, take the number and move a decimal place to the right one position.

  • Original Number: 261,218,086
  • New Number: 2.61218086

Step 2

Now, to find b, count how many places to the right of the decimal.

New Number: 2.61218086
Decimal Count: 12345678

There are 8 places to the right of the decimal place.

Step 3

Building upon what we know above, we can now reconstruct the number into scientific notation.

Remember, the notation is: a x 10b

a = 2.61218086

b = 8

Now the whole thing:

2.61218086 x 108

Step 4

Check your work:

108 = 100,000,000 x 2.61218086 = 261,218,086


More Scientific Notation Examples

261,218,084261,218,085261,218,087261,218,088
2.61218084 x 1082.61218085 x 1082.61218087 x 1082.61218088 x 108

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