Q: How is the number 31,254,208 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 3.1254208 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 31,254,208 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: | 3 | . | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 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 = 3.1254208
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
3.1254208 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 3.1254208 = 31,254,208
| 31,254,206 | 31,254,207 | 31,254,209 | 31,254,210 |
| 3.1254206 x 107 | 3.1254207 x 107 | 3.1254209 x 107 | 3.125421 x 107 |