Q: How is the number 32,174,472 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 3.2174472 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 32,174,472 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 | . | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 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 = 3.2174472
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
3.2174472 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 3.2174472 = 32,174,472
| 32,174,470 | 32,174,471 | 32,174,473 | 32,174,474 |
| 3.217447 x 107 | 3.2174471 x 107 | 3.2174473 x 107 | 3.2174474 x 107 |