Aim: What is scientific notation?

• Shorthand for writing numbers.

Example:Age of the Earth is 4,600,000,000 years old.Another way to express this large value in scientific notation is: 4.6 x 109

• Numbers greater than one will have a positive exponent: 1.5 x 106

Try these examples:

1. 5,700 =

2. 8.4 x 105 =

3. 3,476 =

4. 5.987 x 107 =

5. 35,000,000 =

5.7 x 103

840,000

3.476 x 103

59,870,000

3.5 x 107

When the numerical values are smaller than one, but not less than zero, the exponent will have a negative exponent: 1.4 x 10-2

Example:The average sand-sized particle is 0.1 centimeters.

Another way to express this value in scientific notation is 1.0 x 10-1 cm

Try these examples:

1.0.001 =

2.2.8 x 10-4 =

3.0.000284 =

4.3.14 x 10-2 =

5.0.0004 =

1.0 x 10-3

0.00028

2.84 x 10-4

0.0314

4.0 x 10-4

Summary1. The equatorial diameter of

Jupiter is 142,800 kilometers. What is this value in scientific notation?

2. The temperature of the star Polaris is approximately 6,000°C. What is this value in scientific notation?

3. The atmospheric pressure in the troposphere is 100 atmospheres. What is this numerical value?

4. The center of Earth (inner core) can have an internal temperature of 6.7 x 103 °C. What is this numerical value?

5. Find the half-life value of Carbon-14 on the ESRT. What is the scientific notation and numerical value?