Move the decimal until the resulting number is greater than 1 and less than 10. The number of places the decimal moves is the exponent of 10 in the scientific notation.
3.21 * 10^8
Practice makes perfect
A number written in scientific notation usually expresses a very large or very small number by writing its value as a product of 10 to some power. Let's look at some examples.
Standard Notation
Scientific Notation
5 0 000 000 000
5 * 10^(10)
5 00 000
5 * 10^5
5 0
5 * 10^1
5
5 * 10^0
0.5
5 * 10^(- 1)
0.00005
5 * 10^(- 5)
0.0000000005
5 * 10^(- 10)
To change from standard form to scientific notation, move the decimal until the resulting number is greater than 1 and less than 10. The number of places the decimal moves is the exponent of 10.
3 21 000 000
In this case, to get a number between 1 and 10, we should move the decimal eight places to the left.
Therefore, the scientific notation of 321 000 000 is 3.21 * 10^8.
Standard Form:& 321 000 000
Scientific Notation:& 3.21 * 10^8
