Q: How is the number 42,011,072 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 4.2011072 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 42,011,072 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: | 4 | . | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 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 = 4.2011072
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
4.2011072 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 4.2011072 = 42,011,072
| 42,011,070 | 42,011,071 | 42,011,073 | 42,011,074 |
| 4.201107 x 107 | 4.2011071 x 107 | 4.2011073 x 107 | 4.2011074 x 107 |