Q: How is the number 31,727,401 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 3.1727401 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 31,727,401 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 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 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 = 3.1727401
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
3.1727401 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 3.1727401 = 31,727,401
| 31,727,399 | 31,727,400 | 31,727,402 | 31,727,403 |
| 3.1727399 x 107 | 3.17274 x 107 | 3.1727402 x 107 | 3.1727403 x 107 |