Q: How is the number 42,731,663 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 4.2731663 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 42,731,663 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 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| 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 = 4.2731663
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
4.2731663 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 4.2731663 = 42,731,663
| 42,731,661 | 42,731,662 | 42,731,664 | 42,731,665 |
| 4.2731661 x 107 | 4.2731662 x 107 | 4.2731664 x 107 | 4.2731665 x 107 |