Q: How is the number 31,538,742 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 3.1538742 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 31,538,742 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 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| 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 = 3.1538742
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
3.1538742 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 3.1538742 = 31,538,742
| 31,538,740 | 31,538,741 | 31,538,743 | 31,538,744 |
| 3.153874 x 107 | 3.1538741 x 107 | 3.1538743 x 107 | 3.1538744 x 107 |