Question

When writing a number in scientific notation, how many digits should be to
the left of the decimal point?

Answer 1

Answer:

1 digit

Explanation:

For example:

2.5 x $10^{2}$

3.523 x  $10^{30}$

However, these are not acceptable ways:

0.5 x $10^{3}$ No digit before the decimal

100.2 x $10^{0}$ Too many digits before the decimal

Answer 2

Answer : When writing a number in scientific notation, 1 digit should be to  the left of the decimal point.

Explanation :

Scientific notation : It is the representation of expressing the numbers that are too big or too small and are represented in the decimal form with one digit before the decimal point times 10 raise to the power.

For example :

5000 is written as $5.0\times 10^3$

889.9 is written as $8.899\times 10^{-2}$

In this examples, 5000 and 889.9 are written in the standard notation and $5.0\times 10^3$  and $8.899\times 10^{-2}$  are written in the scientific notation.

Hence, when writing a number in scientific notation, 1 digit should be to  the left of the decimal point.