Question

Scientific notation

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

Scientific notation is a way to write very large or very small numbers using powers of 10. It is used to make these numbers more manageable and easier to compare and calculate.

In scientific notation, a number is expressed as a product of a decimal number between 1 and 10 (known as the coefficient) and a power of 10. The power of 10 determines the magnitude of the number.

For example, the speed of light in meters per second is approximately 299,792,458. In scientific notation, it can be written as 2.99792458 x 10^8 m/s. This means that the coefficient is 2.99792458 and the power of 10 is 8.

Scientific notation is commonly used in scientific and mathematical calculations, as well as in expressing very large or small quantities in fields such as astronomy, physics, chemistry, and engineering. It allows for easier representation and manipulation of these numbers.