Scientific notation

The  exercise appears under the 8th Grade Math Mission. This exercise strengthens the ability to transfer between scientific notation and the standard form of numbers.

Types of Problems
There are two types of problems in this exercise:


 * 1) Change into scientific notation: This problem provides a number written in the typical standard form. The student is asked to rewrite the number in scientific notation.Sn1.png
 * 2) Write in standard form: This problem provides a number written in scientific notation. The student is expected to expand the number into the standard form.Sn2.png

Strategies
Order of operations is useful for expansion, but knowledge and familiarity with scientific notation is really key.
 * 1) A number is in scientific notation if it is written in the form of a*10^n where n is an integer and a is a number such that $$ 1 \leq a <10 $$.
 * 2) To make a number into scientific notation, move the decimal to the spot immediately to the right of the first non-zero digit reading from the left. This is a. The number of spots moved is n if you moved it left, and -n if you moved it right.
 * 3) To expand a number into standard form, move the decimal the magnitude of the value of n. Move to the right if n is positive and to the left if n is negative.
 * 4) Small numbers tend to have a negative n, whereas big numbers tend to have a high n.

Real-life applications

 * 1) Scientific notation has many applications in the sciences.
 * 2) Scientific notation is useful for representing very large or very small quantities.