Use Scientific Notation
Scientists write very large and very small values using scientific notation. A gram of
carbon has about 50,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms. Express this in scientific
notation.
1. Move the decimal until one nonzero digit remains on the left:
5.0000000000000000000
2. Count the places you moved. Here it is 19 left.
3. Show that number as a power of 10. The exponent is negative if the decimal
moves right and positive if it moves left. Answer: 5 x 101⁹
4. Reverse the process to change scientific notation back to a whole number.
Practice
The diameter of a carbon atom is 2.2 x 10-8 cm. Write this as a whole number.