Scientific Notation Basics

Scientific notation breaks numbers into two factors without changing their value. The first factor is always a number between 1 and 10, while the second factor is a power of 10. For example, instead of writing 12,500, you can write it as 1.25 × 10³, where 1.25 is your first factor and 10³ is your second factor.

When converting large numbers to scientific notation, you'll move the decimal point to the left and use a positive exponent. For example, 908,000 becomes 9.08 × 10⁵ because you moved the decimal point 5 places left. For small numbers, you'll move the decimal point to the right and use a negative exponent. So 0.0000700 becomes 7.00 × 10⁻⁵ because you moved the decimal point 5 places right.

Remember this simple rule: when the decimal point moves left, the exponent goes up (positive). When the decimal point moves right, the exponent goes down (negative). For example, 156,000 becomes 1.56 × 10⁵ (moved 5 places left), while 0.0000053 becomes 5.3 × 10⁻⁶ (moved 6 places right).

💡 Think of scientific notation as a decimal point elevator: for every floor the decimal point moves left, the exponent goes up by 1; for every floor it moves right, the exponent goes down by 1.