Q: How is the number 321,542 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 3.21542 x 105

Why is 321,542 written as 3.21542 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 321,542 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: 321,542
  • New Number: 3.21542

Step 2

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

New Number: 3.21542
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 = 3.21542

b = 5

Now the whole thing:

3.21542 x 105

Step 4

Check your work:

105 = 100,000 x 3.21542 = 321,542


More Scientific Notation Examples

321,540321,541321,543321,544
3.2154 x 1053.21541 x 1053.21543 x 1053.21544 x 105

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