Student resources
Grades 6-9
Scientific Notation Guide for Students
Scientific notation is a compact way to write numbers that are very large or very small, especially in science and measurement.
Key ideas
- Scientific notation has a number from 1 to less than 10 times a power of 10.
- Positive exponents make numbers larger.
- Negative exponents make numbers smaller.
- A number like 3.2 x 10^4 means 32,000.
Powers of 10
| Scientific notation | Standard number | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 x 10^3 | 1,000 | one thousand |
| 5 x 10^6 | 5,000,000 | five million |
| 2.4 x 10^2 | 240 | two hundred forty |
| 7 x 10^-3 | 0.007 | seven thousandths |
Practice questions
Write 6,000 in scientific notation.
Calculation: Move the decimal 3 places left: 6 x 10^3
Answer: 6 x 10^3
Write 45,000 in scientific notation.
Calculation: 45,000 = 4.5 x 10,000 = 4.5 x 10^4
Answer: 4.5 x 10^4
Write 3.2 x 10^5 as a standard number.
Calculation: Move the decimal 5 places right
Answer: 320,000
Write 0.004 in scientific notation.
Calculation: Move the decimal 3 places right to get 4, so use 10^-3
Answer: 4 x 10^-3