Scientific Notation for Large Numbers
Grade 8 math lesson on scientific notation for large numbers, teaching students to express very large quantities as a number between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of 10. Students learn to convert between standard notation and scientific notation.
Key Concepts
New Concept Scientific notation is a method of writing a number as a decimal number times a power of 10. What’s next Now that you have the big idea, you will master converting between standard form and scientific notation through guided examples and practice problems.
Common Questions
What is scientific notation?
Scientific notation is a way to write very large or very small numbers as a product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10. For example, 93,000,000 can be written as 9.3 x 10^7.
How do you convert a large number to scientific notation?
To convert a large number to scientific notation, move the decimal point left until you have a number between 1 and 10. Count how many places you moved the decimal — that becomes the positive exponent of 10.
Why is scientific notation useful?
Scientific notation makes very large or very small numbers easier to read, write, and compare. Scientists use it for distances like the distance to the sun or the size of atoms.
What is an example of a large number in scientific notation?
The distance from Earth to the Sun is about 150,000,000 kilometers, written in scientific notation as 1.5 x 10^8 km. The number 1.5 is between 1 and 10, and the exponent 8 shows we moved the decimal 8 places.