See the pattern below?
Decimal Number |
"Broken down" into tens |
Powers of ten form |
| 100 | 10 X 10 | 102 (1 followed by 2 zeroes) |
| 1000 | 10 X 10 X 10 | 103 (1 followed by 3 zeroes) |
| 10,000 | 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 | 104 (1 followed by 4 zeroes) |
| 100,000 | 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 | 105 (1 followed by 5 zeroes) |
| 1,000,000 | 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 | 106 (1 followed by 6 zeroes) |
| 1,000,000,000 | 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 X 10 | 109 (1 followed by 9 zeroes) |
104 is read as "ten to the fourth power." In this case, 10 is the base, and 4 is the "exponent," indicating how many times we multiply the base by itself.
Notice also that the exponent is the number of zeroes after the 1 in the coresponding decimal number. Therefore, 1017 is 100,000,000,000,000,000 in decimal notation. Can you see now why we like to use scientific notation?
101 is a 1 followed by 1 zero, or simply 10. What is 100 ? Choose from the options below.
Questions? Ask the designer, Jim Heath
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