Q: How is the number 55,236,531 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 5.5236531 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 55,236,531 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 | . | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| 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 = 5.5236531
b = 7
Now the whole thing:
5.5236531 x 107
Check your work:
107 = 10,000,000 x 5.5236531 = 55,236,531
| 55,236,529 | 55,236,530 | 55,236,532 | 55,236,533 |
| 5.5236529 x 107 | 5.523653 x 107 | 5.5236532 x 107 | 5.5236533 x 107 |