Hobbies And Interests
Powers of ten
Scientific notation is based on powers of ten. The number 123,000,000,000 written in scientific notation would be 1.23 X 10^11. That is 1.23 times 10 to the 11th power, which means there are 11 decimal places to the right of the decimal point. The first part, 1.23 is called the coefficient, which must be equal to or greater then one, but less then ten. The second part, 10^11, is the base, and must always be written in exponent form. The eleven is the exponent.
Write a number in scientific notation
To write 123,000,000,000 in scientific notation, put a decimal after the first digit and drop the zeros. This will give you the coefficient of 1,23. The number 123,000,000,000 has eleven places after the decimal, so eleven is the exponent, giving you the results of 1.23X10^11.
Distance of Pluto from the sun
Pluto orbits at 3,670,000,000 miles from our sun. This is an average distance because Pluto's orbit is elliptical, meaning the path of the orbit is not round, but more of an oval shape. The actual distance will vary depending on where Pluto is in the orbit. When Pluto is its closest point to the sun during orbit it is called the perihelion, and its farthest point is the aphelion.
Distance written in scientific notation
Insert a decimal point after the first digit, giving you 3.670,000,000. Drop the zeros for a coefficient of 3.67. There are nine decimal places to the right of the decimal, so the exponent will be nine. The number written in scientific notation will be 1.23X10^9.