Scientific Notation and Metric Conversions

Question 1

What is scientific notation?

Answer 1

A way of expressing very large numbers by multiply small numbers by an exponent of 10

Question 2

How do you scientifically notate numbers greater than 1?

Answer 2

For numbers greater than 1, move the decimal place to the left until reaching behind the first digit

Express in positive exponent(s)

example: 1,000,000 would be scientifically notated as (1.0 x 10 ^ 6) or (1 x 10 ^ 6)

example #2: 10234 would be scientifically notated as (1.0234 x 10 ^ 4)

Question 3

How do you scientifically notate numbers less than 1?

Answer 3

For numbers less than 1, move the decimal place to the right until reaching behind the first non-zero digit

Express in negative exponent(s)

example: 0.0001 would be scientifically notated as (1.0 x 10 ^ -4)

example: 0.0013843 would be scientifically notated as **(1.3843 x 10 ^ -3)

Question 4

Would this number have positive or negative exponent(s) in scientific notation: 1032

Answer 4

Positive

Question 5

Would this number have positive or negative exponent(s) in scientific notation: 0.0123

Answer 5

Negative

Question 6

Would this number have positive or negative exponent(s) in scientific notation: 1.230

Answer 6

Neither - there would be no exponent(s) after 10: (1.230 x 10) or (1.23)

Question 7

What is the order of the metric staircase from highest to lowest?

(Kilo - Milli only!)

Answer 7

1. Kilo
2. Hecti
3. Deca
4. Base
5. Deci
6. Centi
7. Milli

This can be memorized with a mneomic device: “King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk”

(the ‘D’ in ‘died’ would stand for “Da” - Deca)

Question 8

When moving up the metric staircase, would number value get higher or lower?

Answer 8

Lower, due to the higher the metric value, the less numbers necessary

example: 6,000 centimeters is 0.06 kilometers

Question 9

When moving down the metric staircase, would number value get higher or lower?

Answer 9

Lower, due to the lower the metric value, the more numbers necessary

example: 50 decagrams is 500,000 milligrams

Question 10

What is a good trick to remember for metric conversions using scientific notation?

Answer 10

In scientific notation, you can move the exponents up or down in correlation to how many steps moved on the staircase