Q: How is the number 3,278,431 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 3.278431 x 106

Why is 3,278,431 written as 3.278431 x 106 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 3,278,431 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: 3,278,431
  • New Number: 3.278431

Step 2

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

New Number: 3.278431
Decimal Count: 123456

There are 6 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 = 3.278431

b = 6

Now the whole thing:

3.278431 x 106

Step 4

Check your work:

106 = 1,000,000 x 3.278431 = 3,278,431


More Scientific Notation Examples

3,278,4293,278,4303,278,4323,278,433
3.278429 x 1063.27843 x 1063.278432 x 1063.278433 x 106

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