Question
Write 120 in scientific notation.
Answer
$$ 120 = 1.2\cdot 10^{2} $$
Explanation
Step 1: Since 120 do not have a decimal point, we will add one at the end of the number 120.
120.
Step 2: Move the decimal point from its current position (the black dot) to a position immediately to the right of the first nonzero digit (the red dot).
1.20.
Step 3: We moved the decimal point 2 spaces to the right. Therefore, the exponent on base 10 will be positive 2.Now we know that the:
Mantissa = 1.20 (which can be written as 1.2 )
Exponent = 2
So, the solution is:
$$120 = \color{blue}{ 1.2} \cdot 10^{ \color{red}{ 2 }}$$This page was created using
Scientific notation Calculator