Q: How is the number 4 written in Scientific Notation?
A: 4 x 100
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 4 is written in scientific notation.
To find a, take the number and move a decimal place to the right one position.
Now, to find b, count how many places to the right of the decimal.
| New Number: | 4 | . |
| Decimal Count: |
There are 0 places to the right of the decimal place.
Building upon what we know above, we can now reconstruct the number into scientific notation.
Remember, the notation is: a x 10b
a = 4
b = 0
Now the whole thing:
4 x 100
Check your work:
100 = 1 x 4 = 4