CHEM 1P Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Scientific Notation, Abbreviation, Decimal Mark
Document Summary
Units and abbreviations for the si system: base units. Scientific notation: numbers expressed in scientific notation have the following form. A is the coefficient, or number with one nonzero digit to the left of the decimal point. B is the exponent, which is a positive or negative integer. The 10 is the exponential term: example. Coefficient of 5, exponent of 3 = 5x10^5, or 500,000. Coefficient of 5, exponent of -5 = 5x10^-5 or 0. 00005. 5. 5 x 10^21 carbon atoms in 0. 55 carat diamond. It is common to assume that the coefficient is 1 in the last position reported unless otherwise stated: example. 5. 5 x 10^21 can mean 5. 4 x 10^21 or 5. 6 x 10^21. Size (magnitude) of a number: exponential term shows the size/magnitude of a number, positive exponent for large numbers. 1) move decimal point until there is a nonzero number to the left of the decimal.
