Q: How is the number 542,321,856 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 5.42321856 x 108
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 542,321,856 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: | 5 | . | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| Decimal Count: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
There are 8 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 = 5.42321856
b = 8
Now the whole thing:
5.42321856 x 108
Check your work:
108 = 100,000,000 x 5.42321856 = 542,321,856
| 542,321,854 | 542,321,855 | 542,321,857 | 542,321,858 |
| 5.42321854 x 108 | 5.42321855 x 108 | 5.42321857 x 108 | 5.42321858 x 108 |