Question

express 580000.00 in scientific notation​

Answer 1

The purpose of scientific notation is for scientists to write very large, or very small, numbers with ease.

Calculating scientific notation for a positive integer is simple, as it always follows this notation:

a x 10b

Follow the steps below to see how 580,000 is written in scientific notation.

Step 1

To find a, take the number and move a decimal place to the right one position.

Original Number: 580,000

New Number: 5.80000

Step 2

Now, to find b, count how many places to the right of the decimal.

New Number: 5 . 8 0 0 0 0

Decimal Count: 1 2 3 4 5

There are 5 places to the right of the decimal place.

Step 3

Building upon what we know above, we can now reconstruct the number into scientific notation.

Remember, the notation is: a x 10b

a = 5.8 (Please notice any zeroes on the end have been removed)

b = 5

Now the whole thing:

5.8 x 105

Step 4

Check your work:

105 = 100,000 x 5.8 = 580,000