Math for Life - Life: The Science of Biology, Seventh ... - WH Freeman

Math for LifeTOPIC 2: EXPONENTS AND POWERS OF TEN / Page 4In scientific notation, when no power of 10 is written, the power of 10 that is meantis 10 0 . That’s because 10 0 = 1.EXAMPLE:5.678 × 10412 .3= 138 . × 103To see why, write 4.12 in scientific notation as 4.12 × 10 0 . Then rearrange the factorsand divide.5.678 × 100412 . × 10335.678 10= × = 138 . × 100412 . 103A word about notation:Another way of writing scientific notation uses a capital E for the × 10. You mayhave seen this notation from a computer.EXAMPLES: 4.356 × 10 7 is sometimes written as 4.356E7.2.516E5 means 2.516 × 10 5 .The letter E is also sometimes written as a lowercase e; this choice is unfortunatebecause e has two other meanings.BACKTOCNEXT