Perform operations with numbers expressed in scientific notation

What you'll learn

1. Multiply and divide numbers expressed in scientific notation by applying exponent rules to the powers of 10 and standard arithmetic to the coefficients, then adjust the result into proper scientific notation form
2. Add and subtract numbers expressed in scientific notation by first rewriting both numbers with the same power of 10, then combining the coefficients
3. Perform operations on mixed expressions where some numbers are in scientific notation and others are in standard decimal form, by converting all numbers to a consistent format before computing
4. Interpret scientific notation displayed by technology (e.g., "3.5E8" means 3.5 x 10^8, "2.1E-5" means 2.1 x 10^(-5)) and convert between calculator display format and standard scientific notation
5. Choose units of appropriate size for measurements of very large or very small quantities and use scientific notation to express and compute with those measurements in context (e.g., expressing seafloor spreading in millimeters per year rather than kilometers per century)

Prerequisites

• Use numbers expressed in scientific notation to estimate very large or very small quantities