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To show the value of very large and very small numbers, typically those with many zeroes. A multitude of zeros is difficult to keep track of- at a glance there seems to be no difference between 10000 and 100000. Scientific notation eliminates these placeholder zeros so that it is clear what number is meant.
To compute very large or very small numbers.
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DevinScientific Notation is simply a shorthand method of writing numbers that would be very lengthy and hard to interpret. For example:
256 trillion = 256,000,000,000,000 in Scientific Notation is represented as: 2.56 x 1014
The same is true for very small numbers:
125 trillionths = 0.000000000125 in Scientific Notation is represented as: 1.25 x 10-10
Multiplication, division and exponential operations are simplified as well. For multiplication, the powers of ten are added together. For division, they are subtracted. That means that you are left to deal with the few main digits. So, to multiply the numbers from above:
2.56 x 1014 x 1.25 x 10-10 = 3.2 x 104
Much easier than keeping track of all those decimal places.
Scientific notation makes very large or very small numbers more manageable.
It saves writing out very large numbers as for example 5,000,000,000,000,000 = 5.0*10^15 in scientific notation
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What is 0.88 in scientific notation?
8.8 x 101 This is the same as saying 8.8 x 10. It might be useful to understand some of these simple powers: 100 = 1 101 = 10 102 = 100 Use these to help you figure out scientific notation.
When is expressing numbers in scientific notation useful?
When dealing with very large numbers or very small numbers where a relatively small number of significant figures are required.
How do biologists use scientific notation?
Scientific notation is the same in all branches of science, statistics, economics, etc. It is a way of representing very large and very small numbers - whatever the context in which they appear.
What are the advantages for scientific notation?
It has and advantage over very big numbers, for example, 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. You wouldn't want to write that all down, would you?
Why are models useful in studying scientific concepts?
because they are :)
