Q: How is the number 420,520 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 4.2052 x 105

Why is 420,520 written as 4.2052 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 420,520 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: 420,520
  • New Number: 4.20520

Step 2

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

New Number: 4.20520
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 = 4.2052 (Please notice any zeroes on the end have been removed)

b = 5

Now the whole thing:

4.2052 x 105

Step 4

Check your work:

105 = 100,000 x 4.2052 = 420,520


More Scientific Notation Examples

420,518420,519420,521420,522
4.20518 x 1054.20519 x 1054.20521 x 1054.20522 x 105

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