Scientific Notation

Integral Powers of 10

10⁰ = 1 E 0 = 1 (1 x 10⁰ is acceptable)
10¹ = 1 E 1 = 10
10² = 1 E 2 = 100
10⁶ = 1 E 6 = 1 000 000

10^-1 = 1 E -1 = 0.1
10^-2 = 1 E -2 = 0.01
10^-6 = 1 E -6 = 0.000 001

Proper Notation:
Place the leftmost significant figure to the left of the decimal and display the rest of the figures (significant only) to the right of the decimal following rounding rules. There can only be 1 integer to the left of the decimal.

example: 93 000 000 m = 9.3 E 7 m

0.000 028 in = 2.8 E -5 in

Decimal points and a bar over the last significant zero will be demonstrated in class.

Multiplying measured quantities using scientific notation:
Rule: multiply the numbers and add exponents:
example: (9.0 E 3 m) (7.0 E 2 m) = 63 E 5 m² = 6.3 E 6 m²

Dividing in scientific notation:
Rule: Divide the numbers and subtract the exponents:
example: (4.5 E - 6 m²) / (1.5 E -2 m) = 3.0 E -4 m

Page Last Updated: Friday March 02, 2007 Webmaster: Larry Jones Pickens County School District