Q: How is the number 257 written in Scientific Notation?

 A: 2.57 x 102

Why is 257 written as 2.57 x 102 in scientific notation?

The purpose of scientific notation is for scientists to write very large, or very small, numbers with ease.

Calculating scientific notation for a positive integer is simple, as it always follows this notation:

a x 10b

Follow the steps below to see how 257 is written in scientific notation.

Step 1

To find a, take the number and move a decimal place to the right one position.

  • Original Number: 257
  • New Number: 2.57

Step 2

Now, to find b, count how many places to the right of the decimal.

New Number: 2.57
Decimal Count: 12

There are 2 places to the right of the decimal place.

Step 3

Building upon what we know above, we can now reconstruct the number into scientific notation.

Remember, the notation is: a x 10b

a = 2.57

b = 2

Now the whole thing:

2.57 x 102

Step 4

Check your work:

102 = 100 x 2.57 = 257


More Scientific Notation Examples

255256258259
2.55 x 1022.56 x 1022.58 x 1022.59 x 102

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