Scientific Notation Examples

Write 307,000 in scientific notation.

Move the decimal until you get a number between 1 and 10. Scoot over, decimal point.

Only drop the three zeros that come after 7. We can't drop the zero that comes before the 7 without changing the value of the number.

Time for the finishing move. Multiply by 10 to the fifth power, since we moved the decimal five places.

Write 5.072 × 10⁸ in standard notation.

If scientific notation is shorthand, then standard notation is longhand. It's the way we normally write numbers.

In this case, since the 10 is raised to the power of 8, move the decimal eight places to the right and fill in any blank spots with zeros.

Write 3.801 × 10^-12 in standard notation.

Since the ten is raised to a negative power, we know that we're working with a very small number.

Move the decimal 12 places to the left and add zeros in any blank spots.