Q: How is the number 731,586,738 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 7.31586738 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 731,586,738 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: | 7 | . | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
| 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 = 7.31586738
b = 8
Now the whole thing:
7.31586738 x 108
Check your work:
108 = 100,000,000 x 7.31586738 = 731,586,738
| 731,586,736 | 731,586,737 | 731,586,739 | 731,586,740 |
| 7.31586736 x 108 | 7.31586737 x 108 | 7.31586739 x 108 | 7.3158674 x 108 |