Q: How is the number 650,242,462 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 6.50242462 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 650,242,462 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: | 6 | . | 5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 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 = 6.50242462
b = 8
Now the whole thing:
6.50242462 x 108
Check your work:
108 = 100,000,000 x 6.50242462 = 650,242,462
| 650,242,460 | 650,242,461 | 650,242,463 | 650,242,464 |
| 6.5024246 x 108 | 6.50242461 x 108 | 6.50242463 x 108 | 6.50242464 x 108 |