Q: How is the number 261,481 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 2.61481 x 105

Why is 261,481 written as 2.61481 x 105 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 261,481 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: 261,481
  • New Number: 2.61481

Step 2

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

New Number: 2.61481
Decimal Count: 12345

There are 5 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 = 2.61481

b = 5

Now the whole thing:

2.61481 x 105

Step 4

Check your work:

105 = 100,000 x 2.61481 = 261,481


More Scientific Notation Examples

261,479261,480261,482261,483
2.61479 x 1052.6148 x 1052.61482 x 1052.61483 x 105

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