Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
Scientific Notation
Scientific notation is a method of expressing numbers that are too large or too small in a compact form. It is written as the product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of ten. For example, the number 530,000 can be expressed as 5.3 x 10^5, where 5.3 is the coefficient and 10^5 indicates the number of places the decimal point has moved.
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Significant Figures
Significant figures are the digits in a number that contribute to its precision. In scientific notation, only the digits in the coefficient are considered significant. For instance, in the number 5.3 x 10^5, both digits '5' and '3' are significant, which helps convey the accuracy of the measurement or value being represented.
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Powers of Ten
Powers of ten are used in scientific notation to indicate the scale of the number. Each power of ten represents a factor of ten multiplied by itself. For example, 10^5 means 10 multiplied by itself five times, equating to 100,000. This concept is crucial for understanding how to convert standard numbers into scientific notation effectively.
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