Q: How is the number 518,438,472 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 5.18438472 x 108

Why is 518,438,472 written as 5.18438472 x 108 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 518,438,472 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: 518,438,472
  • New Number: 5.18438472

Step 2

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

New Number: 5.18438472
Decimal Count: 12345678

There are 8 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 = 5.18438472

b = 8

Now the whole thing:

5.18438472 x 108

Step 4

Check your work:

108 = 100,000,000 x 5.18438472 = 518,438,472


More Scientific Notation Examples

518,438,470518,438,471518,438,473518,438,474
5.1843847 x 1085.18438471 x 1085.18438473 x 1085.18438474 x 108

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