revised 2019/08/25 at 22:52:42

Sacred Heart Junior College

Math and IT Department

INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA (MATH1004)

Semester I, 2019 – 2020
Worksheet 3: Scientific Notation and Approximation

Approximations

There are two important ways in which real numbers can be approximated—decimal places (d.p.) and
significant figures (s.f.). A decimal place is any number after the decimal point (thus incremental) and
whenever you are asked to approximate, the degree of accuracy is given. For example, in 2 d.p., 2 is the
degree and d.p. means the type of approximation.
. To approximate in decimal places, you look at the degree and count the same amount of decimal
places. Now, identify the last counted decimal place and if the number that follows is 5 or more
you add 1 to the latter.
. A figure is significant if there is a non-zero digit on its left. Thus, the first significant figure is the
first non-zero digit when counting from left to right. We start counting from this first non-zero
digit on the left and apply the same principle as that of decimal places.

Instructions: Attempt ALL questions and show ALL working where possible.
1. Complete the table below by approximating each given number to the correct degree of accuracy.

2 d.p. 3 d.p. 2 s.f. 4 s.f.

8.12179
0.021437
390.7951

2. Use your calculator to determine the decimal representation of the following numbers and approximate
them to the given degree of accuracy.

2
(a) π to 2 d.p. and 3 s.f. (f ) 3 to 2 d.p. and 2 s.f.

1
(b) 2e to 3 d.p. and 2 s.f. (g ) 11 to 3 d.p. and 1 s.f.

√
(c) log 2 to 1 d.p. and 4 s.f. 2
(h) 2 to 1 d.p. and 3 s.f.
√
(d ) 3 to 3 d.p. and 3 s.f. (i ) 11.23 × 27.3791 to 2 d.p. and 2 s.f.
√
3
(e) 2 − 5 to 3 d.p. and 1 s.f. (j ) 6.43 × 28.4125 to 1 d.p. and 3 s.f.

3. Let r = 2.5 cm be the radius of a circle CA . Determine the area and perimeter of CA correct to 2 d.p.
and 3 s.f. respectively.

4. If a cylinder of height 8.9 cm has as base CA , determine the volume of such a cylinder to 3 s.f..

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 5. Add the following distances and give the result to an appropriate number of decimal places (hint: the
total value cannot have more decimal places than the least precise of all values): 1.023 m, 3.19 m, 0.752
m, 0.0023 m.

6. Divide 425 by 2.8 and approximate it correct to (No calculators):

(a) 6 s.f. and 6 d.p. (d ) 3 s.f. and 3 d.p.

(b) 5 s.f. and 5 d.p. (e) 2 s.f. and 2 d.p.

(c) 4 s.f. and 4 d.p. (f ) 1 s.f. and 1 d.p.

Applications of Scientific Notation

A number is written in scientific notation when it is expressed in the form

a × 10n

where 1 ≤ |a| < 10 and n ∈ Z.

7. If 2.5 is multiplied by 103 , what does this multiplication do to the decimal point in 2.5?

8. If 3.1 is multiplied by 10−2 , what does this multiplication do to the decimal point in 3.1?

9. Write each number in decimal notation:

(a) 5.6 × 104 (f ) −3.7 × 104

(b) −2.45 × 102 (g ) 5.89 × 108

(c) 3.57 × 10−3 (h) 1.715 × 10−6

(d ) 6.23 × 10−5 (i ) 3.65 × 10−3

(e) 2.109 × 106 (j ) 4.2 × 107

10. Write each number in scientific notation:

(a) 32, 979, 000, 000 (f ) 0.0000000000001

(b) 0.0000000023 (g ) 7, 900, 000

(c) −45, 921, 000 (h) 0.000321

(d ) −0.000452 (i ) 999, 000

(e) 34, 000 (j ) 0.001

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11. Perform the indicated computations. Write the answers in scientific notation. If necessary, round the
decimal factor in your scientific notation answer to two decimal places.

(a) (2.34 × 10−2 )(1.2 × 107 ) (j ) (2.4 × 10−2 ) ÷ (4.8 × 10−6 )

(b) (1.8 × 103 )(2.5 × 104 ) 0.0069

(k )
0.023
(c) (3.3 × 104 )(1.25 × 106 ) 0.00048
(l )
0.0016
(d ) (7.1 × 10−8 )(2 × 10−4 )
18, 200 × 100
(m)
(e) (4.3 × 107 )(6.2 × 103 ) 91, 000

(f ) (6.5 × 108 ) ÷ (5 × 103 ) 0.0003 × 0.0024

(n)
0.0006 × 20
(g ) (3.2 × 108 ) ÷ (4 × 105 )
6000 × 0.006
(o)
(h) (2.7 × 104 ) ÷ (9 × 10−2 ) 0.009 × 400

0.00016 × 300
(i ) (1.5 × 10−2 ) ÷ (3 × 10−5 ) (p)
0.064 × 100

12. The mass of one hydrogen atom is 1.67×10−24 gram. Find the mass of 80,000 hydrogen atoms. Express
the answer in scientific notation.

13. Convert 365 days (one year) to hours, to minutes, and, finally, to seconds, to determine precisely how
many seconds there are in a year. Express the answer in scientific notation. Is 3.2 × 107 a good
approximation for the number of seconds in a year.

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