Scientific notation is the way that scientists easily handle very
large numbers or very small numbers. Scientific notation is written by
writting a decimal number between 1 and 10 together with an exponent of
10.
Given
[tex](8.91 \times 10^2)(3.3 \times 10^{12})[/tex]
First, using distributive property of numbers, seperate the decimal numbers and the exponents of 10, we have
[tex](8.91\times3.3)\times(10^2\times10^{12})=29.403\times10^{2+12}=29.403\times10^{14}[/tex]
Because,
scientific notation requires that the decimal number part be a number
between 1 and 10, we move the decimal point 1 place backwards and add 1
from the exponent of 10.
Thus,
[tex](8.91 \times 10^2)(3.3 \times 10^{12})[/tex]
in standard notation is
[tex]2.9403\times10^{15}[/tex]
Therefore, to
write the best estimate for
[tex](8.91 \times 10^2)(3.3 \times 10^{12})[/tex]
in scientific
notation, the power of ten is 15.
