Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Scientific Notation Explained
Dr. DeBacco
Why use Scientific Notation?
When dealing with very LARGE numbers:
1 mole = 602000000000000000000000
When dealing with very small numbers:
Mass of an electron = 0.000000000000000000000000000000091 kg
Scientific Notation Format
A method of representing very large or very small numbers in the form:
M x 10n
M is a number between 1 and 10
n is an integer
Proper Format
The exponent is the number of places the decimal moved.
Proper Format
The exponent is negative because the initial number was less than 1.
Link to Lecture Slides: drive.google.com/file/d/1Ioltk8cQtVSEYriA8KRe5cLwC2OD6xtv/view?usp=drive_link
*Due to the description character limit the full work cited for "Scientific Notation Explained" can be viewed at... docs.google.com/document/d/1anFBP8svYP_4ZWzcfGdfWWoy_qe5RH-I/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=104237452697237972847&rtpof=true&sd=true
Scientific Notation Explained
Dr. DeBacco
Why use Scientific Notation?
When dealing with very LARGE numbers:
1 mole = 602000000000000000000000
When dealing with very small numbers:
Mass of an electron = 0.000000000000000000000000000000091 kg
Scientific Notation Format
A method of representing very large or very small numbers in the form:
M x 10n
M is a number between 1 and 10
n is an integer
Proper Format
The exponent is the number of places the decimal moved.
Proper Format
The exponent is negative because the initial number was less than 1.
Link to Lecture Slides: drive.google.com/file/d/1Ioltk8cQtVSEYriA8KRe5cLwC2OD6xtv/view?usp=drive_link
*Due to the description character limit the full work cited for "Scientific Notation Explained" can be viewed at... docs.google.com/document/d/1anFBP8svYP_4ZWzcfGdfWWoy_qe5RH-I/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=104237452697237972847&rtpof=true&sd=true
