Math 10 – Week 3

Most of this week was just review before our test, so I’m not sure if we learned this last week or this week, but I liked learning about scientific notation.

Scientific notation is usually used to write down really big or really small numbers in an easier to read compressed way.

Scientific notation is used like this: 𝑥 \cdot 10^x

Big Numbers: For big numbers for example 32773530000, you first have to write down the number as a decimal from 1-9 (3.2773530000 = 3.277353). You then have to multiply that decimal with 10 to the power of however many numbers are after the first (10^{10}). You should end up with an equation looking something like this: 3.277353 \cdot 10^{10} = 32773530000

Small Numbers: For small numbers, you do the exact same thing with the bug numbers except you’re going backwards. For example if the number is 0.00003277353 you first move the decimal point down to right after the first number that isn’t zero (3.277353) and multiply the decimal you just got with 10 to the power of negative however many times you had to move the decimal space forward (0.00003277353 has the decimal point move forward 5 times). You should end up with something looking like this: 3.277353 \cdot 10^{-5} = 0.00003277353

Something interesting was that exponents don’t have to be whole numbers. Exponents can be either fractions or decimals as well.

Ex. 3^\frac {5}{2} \cdot 3^ \frac {1}{2} = 3^ \frac {6}{2} = 3^3

 

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