Question 116570: Write 3,400 in scientific notation.
Found 2 solutions by MathLover1, bucky:
Answer by MathLover1(20850)   (Show Source):
Answer by bucky(2189)  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! In scientific notation you only have one place to the left of the decimal point.
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Therefore, for this problem you place the decimal point between the 3 and the 4, making the
number 3.400 [You can drop the last 2 zeros and just write 3.4]
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Next you multiply that number by 10 raised to a power that will get the decimal point back
to where it was originally.
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In this problem the decimal point was originally after the last zero. In other words the
original number was 3400. So to get the decimal point from between the 3 and 4 back to its
original position after the last zero, you would have to move it 3 places to the right. Therefore,
you need to multiply 3.4 by 
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So the answer to this problem is  where the symbol between the 3.4 and 10 is
the multiplication sign [normally an "x" or a "*" ].
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Sounds complex, but once you get used to it, it's pretty easy. Here are some more examples
with the answers ... just to help you get used to it and remember that the exponent
on the 10 is positive (moving to the right) and equals the number of places it has to
move to get back to the original given number:
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450,000 ===> 4.5 x 10^5
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406,000,000 ===> 4.06 x 10^8
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98,000,000,000 ===> 9.8 x 10^10
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And if you have to move the decimal point to the left to get it back to the original position,
that exponent is negative and equals the number of places the decimal point needs to move
to the left to get back to the given number. For example:
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0.000419 ===> 4.19 x 10^(-4)
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0.0000002165 ===> 2.165 x 10^(-7)
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0.0056001 ===> 5.6001 x 10^(-3)
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Hope this gives you a little insight to scientific notation.
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