CIRCUITS 1

(EE101)

PREPARED BY: ENGR. JUN A. TERESA

MAPUA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Module no.1
Contents:

The Scientific Notation

Units of Measurement

Topic Objectives:

To explain scientific notation

To solve some exercises with proper prefixes of

measurement

WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC NOTATION?

Today we will discuss the use of scientific notation also referred
to as exponential notation. The notation is based on powers of
base number 10. The general format looks something like this:
N

10x

where N = number greater than 1

but less than 10
10 = BASE
and
x = exponent of 10.

Exponent X = indicates the number of places

the decimal point is moved to the right or
left.
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Placing numbers in exponential notation has several advantages.

1) For very large numbers and extremely small ones, these numbers can be
placed in scientific notation in order to express them in a more concise form.
2) In addition, numbers placed in this notation can be used in a computation
with far greater ease. This last advantage was more practical before the
advent of calculators and their abundance.
In scientific fields, scientific notation is still used. Let's first discuss how we
will express a number greater than 10 in such notational form.
Numbers Greater Than 10
1) We first want to locate the decimal and move it either right or left so that there are
only one non-zero digit to its left.
2) The resulting placement of the decimal will produce the N part of the standard
scientific notational expression.
3) Count the number of places that you had to move the decimal to satisfy step 1
above.
4) If it is to the left as it will be for numbers greater than 10, that number of positions
will equal x in the general expression.
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As an example, how do we place the number

23419
in standard scientific notation?
1) Position the decimal so that there is only one non-zero digit to its left. In
this case we end up with
2.3419
2) Count the number of positions we had to move the decimal to the left
and that will be x.
3) Multiply the results of step 1 and 2 above for the standard form:
So we have: 2.3419 X 10 4
How about numbers less than one?
We generally follow the same steps except in order to position the decimal with only
one non-zero decimal to its left, we will have to move it to the RIGHT. The number of
positions that we had to move it to the right will be equal to -x. In other words we will
end up with a negative exponent.
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Here is an example to consider:

1) Express the following number in scientific notation: 0.000436
a) First, we will have to move the decimal to the right in order to satisfy the condition
of having one non-zero digit to the left of the decimal. That will give us: 4.36
b) Then we count the number of positions that we had to move it which was 4. That
will equal -X or x = -4

And the expression will be 4.36 X 10-4

What about numbers that are between 1 and 10?

In those numbers we do not need to move the decimal so the exponent will be zero.
For example: 7.92 can be rewritten in notational form as:
7.92 X 100

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Exercises:
Now it is your turn. Express the following numbers in their equivalent standard
notational form:
1) 123,876.3
2) 1,236,840.
3) 4.22
4) 0.000000000000211
5) 0.000238
6) 9.10

Let's discuss how one would multiply with such notations. The general format for
multiplying using scientific notation is as follows:
(N X 10x) (M X 10y) = (N) (M) X 10x+y

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Performing math operations: The Steps

a) Express both numbers in the same power of
ten
b) Add or subtract the major numbers
c) Bring down the common power of ten
Example:
1. Add 2x106 and 5x107
2. Subtract 2.5x10-12 from 7.5x10-11
a) Multiply the numbers directly without their
power
of ten
b) Add the powers of ten algebraically
3. Multiply 5x1012 and 3x10-6

a) Divide the numbers directly without their

power
of ten
b) Subtract the power of ten in the denominator
from the numerator
4. Divide 5.0x108 by 2.5x103

ENGINEERING NOTATION & METRIC PREFIXES

- specialized form of scientific notation
- applications used to express value of voltage, cur
resistance, power, and time

Metric prefixes are used in conjunction with engineering notation

Prefix

Symbol

Power of ten

Value

pico

10-12

one-trillionth

nano

10-9

one-billionth

micr
o
milli

10-6

one-millionth

10-3

one-thousandth

Kilo

103

one-thousand

meg
a
Giga

106

one-million

109

one-billion

Tera

1012

one-trillion

Express each quality in appropriate metric prefix

a) 50,000V

b) 25,000,000

c) 0.000036A

Sample Exercises:
1. Add 15mA and 8000A and express the sum in (mA)
2. Add 0.05MW and 75kW and express the sum in (kW)
3. Add 50mV and 2500V and express the sum in (mV)

4. Add 0.00025mA and 5A and express the sum in (mA