# What is 800,000,000 in scientific notation?

Feb 14, 2017

$800 , 000 , 000. = 8. \times {10}^{8}$

#### Explanation:

Scientific notation is a way of writing very big or very small numbers quickly, easily and accurately, without having to write lots of zeros.

If a zero is added on or left off by mistake, it changes the answer by a factor of 10!

We use the powers of 10, which are $10 , 100 , 1000 , 10 , 000 \ldots$

These are written as $10 , {10}^{2} , {10}^{3} , {10}^{4} \ldots .$

We multiply the powers of 10 by a number to show how many of a certain power of 10 we are using.

$600 = 6 \times 100 = 6 \times {10}^{2}$

$9 , 000 , 000 = 9 \times 1 , 000 , 000 = 9 \times {10}^{6}$

You will see that the number of zeros is the same as the index.

Sometimes there is more than one non-zero digit to consider:

$7 , 250 , 000 = 7.25 \times 1 , 000 , 000 = 7.25 \times {10}^{6}$

There must only be ONE digit before the decimal point.

To change a number to scientific notation:
Count how many places the decimal point must move.

$800 , 000 , 000. = 8. \times {10}^{8}$

The point was moved 8 places to the left until it was just to the right of the $8$.