IES: Lesson - Scientific Notation š
ā³ Estimated Reading/Watching Time: 22 - 24 minutes
In this lesson, you will learn how to express very large and very small numbers in scientific notation.
Scientific Notation
Scientific notation is a shorthand way to express large or tiny numbers. We will consider anything over 1000 to be a large number. Writing these numbers in scientific notation will help you do your calculations much quicker and easier and will help prevent mistakes in conversions from one unit to another. Like the metric system, scientific notation is based on factors of 10. A large number written in scientific notation looks like this:
1.23 x 1011
The number before the x (1.23) is called the coefficient. The coefficient must be greater than 1 and less than 10. The number after the x is the base number and is always 10. The number in superscript (11) is the exponent.
Watch the following video to gain a greater understanding of the power of 10.
Watch the short video below to see how to put very large and very small numbers in scientific notation:
A large number expressed in scientific notation will have a positive exponent.
A very small number expressed in scientific notation will have a negative exponent.
Calculating with Scientific Notation
Calculations with numbers in scientific notation are not super difficult. The most difficult part is knowing how to put the numbers in your calculator.
Watch the short video below to see how to do calculations with numbers in scientific notation:
You will have a calculator on the AP exam, so you need to learn how to input scientific notation into a calculator correctly. Every calculator is a little bit different - make sure you know how to do these calculations with your specific calculator.
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