Q: How is the number 550,132,538 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 5.50132538 x 108

Why is 550,132,538 written as 5.50132538 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 550,132,538 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: 550,132,538
  • New Number: 5.50132538

Step 2

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

New Number: 5.50132538
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 = 5.50132538

b = 8

Now the whole thing:

5.50132538 x 108

Step 4

Check your work:

108 = 100,000,000 x 5.50132538 = 550,132,538


More Scientific Notation Examples

550,132,536550,132,537550,132,539550,132,540
5.50132536 x 1085.50132537 x 1085.50132539 x 1085.5013254 x 108

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