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22 Scientific Notation

Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers that makes it easy to use very large and very small values. A number is written as the product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10. This positions the decimal point correctly. For example, 700 is written as 7 × 102 and 4,900,000,000 is written as 4.9 × 109. Engineering notation is similar but uses powers of 10 that are multiples of 3, allowing numbers to be replaced with metric prefixes.

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191 views5 pages

22 Scientific Notation

Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers that makes it easy to use very large and very small values. A number is written as the product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10. This positions the decimal point correctly. For example, 700 is written as 7 × 102 and 4,900,000,000 is written as 4.9 × 109. Engineering notation is similar but uses powers of 10 that are multiples of 3, allowing numbers to be replaced with metric prefixes.

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Scientific Notation

Scientific Notation is a special way of writing numbers:

Like this:

Or this:

It makes it easy to use big and small values.

OK, How Does it Work?


Example: 700
Why is 700 written as 7 102 in Scientific Notation ?

700 = 7 100
and 100 = 102
so 700 = 7 102

Both 700 and 7 102 have the same value, just shown in different ways.

Example: 4,900,000,000
1,000,000,000 = 109 ,
so 4,900,000,000 = 4.9 109 in Scientific Notation

So the number is written in two parts:

Just the digits (with the decimal point placed after the first digit), followed by

10 to a power that puts the decimal point where it should be


(i.e. it shows how many places to move the decimal point).

In this example, 5326.6 is written as 5.3266 103,


because 5326.6 = 5.3266 1000 = 5.3266 103

Other Ways of Writing It

3.1 10^8
We can use the ^ symbol (above the 6 on a keyboard), as it is easy to type.
Example: 3 10^4 is the same as 3 104

3 10^4 = 3 10 10 10 10 = 30,000

3.1E+8
Calculators often use "E" or "e" like this:
Example: 6E+5 is the same as 6 105

6E+5 = 6 10 10 10 10 10 = 600,000

Example: 3.12E4 is the same as 3.12 104

3.12E4 = 3.12 10 10 10 10 = 31,200

How to Do it
To figure out the power of 10, think "how many places do I move the decimal point?"

When the number is 10 or greater, the decimal point has to move to the left, and
the power of 10 is positive.
When the number is smaller than 1, the decimal point has to move to the right,
so the power of 10 is negative.

Example: 0.0055 is written 5.5 10-3


Because 0.0055 = 5.5 0.001 = 5.5 10-3

Example: 3.2 is written 3.2 100


We didn't have to move the decimal point at all, so the power is 100
But it is now in Scientific Notation

Check!
After putting the number in Scientific Notation, just check that:

The "digits" part is between 1 and 10 (it can be 1, but never 10)

The "power" part shows exactly how many places to move the decimal point

Why Use It?


Because it makes it easier when dealing with very big or very small numbers, which are
common in Scientific and Engineering work.
Example: it is easier to write (and read) 1.3 10-9 than 0.0000000013

It can also make calculations easier, as in this example:


Example: a tiny space inside a computer chip has been measured to be 0.00000256m
wide, 0.00000014m long and 0.000275m high.
What is its volume?
Let's first convert the three lengths into scientific notation:

width: 0.000 002 56m = 2.5610-6

length: 0.000 000 14m = 1.410-7

height: 0.000 275m = 2.7510-4

Then multiply the digits together (ignoring the 10s):


2.56 1.4 2.75 = 9.856
Last, multiply the 10s:
10-6 10-7 10-4 = 10-17 (easier than it looks, just add -6, -4 and -7 together)

The result is 9.85610-17 m3


It is used a lot in Science:

Example: Suns, Moons and Planets


The Sun has a Mass of 1.988 1030 kg.
Easier than writing 1,988,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg
(and that number gives a false sense of many digits of accuracy.)

Engineering Notation
Engineering Notation is like Scientific Notation, except that we only use powers of ten that
are multiples of 3 (such as 103, 10-3, 1012 etc).

Examples:

2,700 is written 2.7 103

27,000 is written 27 103

270,000 is written 270 103

2,700,000 is written 2.7 106

Example: 0.00012 is written 120 10-6


Notice that the "digits" part can now be between 1 and 1,000 (it can be 1, but never 1,000).
The advantage is that we can replace the 10s with Metric Numbers. So we can use
standard words (such as thousand or million) prefixes (such as kilo, mega) or the symbol (k,
M, etc)
Example: 19,300 meters is written 19.3 103 m, or 19.3 km
Example: 0.00012 seconds is written 120 10-6 s, or 120 microseconds

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