Scientific notation

Scientific notation or standard form, is a way of writing very large or very small numbers using a number between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of ten: a · 10^b , where “a” is called mantissa or significand and “b” is called exponent or index.

Examples:

3.450.000.000.000 = 3.45 · 10¹²

0.0000000012 = 1.2 · 10^-9

 

 

Exercises:

1.- Express in scientific notation:

a) 1.200.000.000.000.000

b) 0.0000000000123

c) 345.000.000.000

d) 0.000008

 

2.- Write these numbers with all their digits:

a) 1.5 · 10¹⁶

b) 2,2 · 10^-8

 

 

 

 

Solutions: 1.- a) 1.2·10¹⁵; b) 1.23·10^-11; c) 3.45·10¹¹; d) 8·10^-5 ; 2.- a) 15.000.000.000.000.000; 0.000000022