Q: How is the number 42,012,020 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 4.201202 x 107

Why is 42,012,020 written as 4.201202 x 107 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 42,012,020 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: 42,012,020
  • New Number: 4.2012020

Step 2

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

New Number: 4.2012020
Decimal Count: 1234567

There are 7 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 = 4.201202 (Please notice any zeroes on the end have been removed)

b = 7

Now the whole thing:

4.201202 x 107

Step 4

Check your work:

107 = 10,000,000 x 4.201202 = 42,012,020


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4.2012018 x 1074.2012019 x 1074.2012021 x 1074.2012022 x 107

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