Sept 21 2010 - Scientific Notation

Scientific Notation is used to express very large or very small numbers using powers of 10.  Scientific notation is very useful and is often favored by scientists, mathematicians and engineers, who work with large numbers.
  

a ×  10^b

b is the exponent
a is the coefficient






<sup>Ex.
Change the following number into 
scientific notation : 642 000


Step one : put a decimal point into the number so that there is one digit left of the decimal point.

                  6.42000


Step two: count the number of spaces needed to get back to the origonal
                  number. Since you have to move the decimal point 5 spaces to
                  the right, the exponent is 5.


                  6.42000
                     ------> 5 spaces 
                                       
                  6.42000 X 10^5

**When moving the decimal to the right to get back to the original number, the exponent will always be 
positive.  When moving the decimal to the left to get back to the original number, the exponent will always be
negative**</sup>