SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

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SCIENTIFIC NOTATION GRANDVIEW CURRICULUM CODES
I. E
JOURNAL ENTRY AT THE END WITH SUGGESTED EXTRA
CREDIT
BACK TO PROGRAM
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MATH
SCIENTIFIC NUMBERS
Teacher Tips
MARTHA STEPHENSON GRANDVIEW HIGH SCHOOL
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VERY LARGE AND VERY SMALL NUMBERS ARE WRITTEN IN
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM MORE
WORKABLE
Example 2,000,000,000 is written as 2.0 X 109 A
scientific number always has one digit, other
than zero, before the decimal point. Example
.0004325 is written as 4.325 X 10-4
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CHANGING FROM LARGE NUMBERS TO SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
TO CHANGE A LARGE NUMBER (GREATER THAN 10) TO
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION MOVE THE DECIMAL POINT TO THE
LEFT UNTIL ONLY ONE SIGNIFICANT DIGIT IS THE THE
LEFT OF THE DECIMAL POINT. COUNT THE NUMBER OF
PLACES MOVED AND USED THAT NUMBER AS THE EXPONENT.
Example 23680000. 2.368 X 107
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CHANGING FROM SMALL NUMBER TO SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
TO CHANGE A SMALL NUMBER (LESS THAN 1) TO
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION MOVE THE DECIMAL POINT TO THE
RIGHT UNTIL ONE SIGNIFICANT DIGIT IS THE THE LEFT
OF THE DECIMAL POINT. COUNT THE NUMBER OF PLACES
MOVED AND USED THAT NUMBER AS THE NEGATIVE
EXPONENT.
Example .00345 3.45 x 10-3
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1. 23678.003 2. .003832 3. 700000 4.
.3519 5. 689.489 6. 31789502 7. .0093593
8. .0000009
NOW TRY THESE PROBLEMS
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1. 23678.003 2.34578003 x 104 2. .003832
3.832 x 10-3 3. 700000 7.0 x 105 4. .3519
3.519 x 10-1 5. 689.489 6.89489 x 102 6.
31789502 3.1789502 x 107 7. .0093593 9.3593
x 10-3 8. .0000009 9.0 x 10-7
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HOPE Y0U DID REAL GOOD!!
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IN YOUR JOURNALS PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING
1. WHY DO YOU USE SCIENTIFIC NOTATION? 2.
GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF A REAL LIFE LARGE NUMBER
THAT NEEDS TO BE WRITTEN IN SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION. 3. GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF A REAL LIFE
SMALL NUMBER THAT NEEDS TO BE WRITTEN IN
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION. EXTRA CREDIT BRING
IN ARTICLES THAT CONTAIN
EXAMPLES OF SCIENTIFIC NOTATION