LESSON 2:

SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
A QUICK WAY TO WRITE
REALLY, REALLY BIG
OR
REALLY, REALLY SMALL NUMBERS.
 Scientists
are Lazy!!!
They decided that by
using powers of 10, they
can create short versions
of long numbers.
Rules for Scientific Notation
To be in proper scientific notation
the number must be written with
* a number between 1 and 10
* and multiplied by a power of
ten
23 X 105 is not in proper
scientific notation. Why?
 Soooo
137,000,000 can be rewritten
as

1.37 X 10 8
Now You Try
Using scientific notation,
rewrite the following numbers.
347,000
3.47 X 105
902,000,000
9.02 X 108
61,400
6.14 X 104
 Convert these:

1.23 X 10 -5

.0000123
6.806 X 10 -6

.000006806
 Try These
4,000
4 X 103
2.48 X 103
2,480
6.123 X 106
6,123,000
306,000,000
3.06 X 108
In the United States, 15,000,000
households use private wells for their
water supply. Write this number in
scientific notation.
1.5 X 107
• The U.S. has a total of 1.2916 X
107 acres of land reserved for
state parks. Write this in standard
form.

12,916,000 acres
Why does a Negative Exponent
give us a small number?
10000 = 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 = 104
1000 = 10 x 10 x 10 = 103
100 = 10 x 10 = 102
10 = 101
1 = 100
Do you see a pattern?
Sooooo
= 110-1
10
1 = 1 = 10-2
100 10 2

1 = 1 = 10-3
3
1000 10
1 1 -4
= = 410
10000 10
 Your Turn
Using Scientific Notation,
rewrite the following numbers.
0.000882
8.82 X 10-4
0.00000059
5.9 X 10-7
0.00004
4 X 10-5
 More Examples
1) 0.0004
4 X 10-4
2) 1.248 X 10-6
.000001248
3) 6.123 X 10-5
.00006123
4) 0.00000306
3.06 X 10-6
5) 0.000892
8.92 X 10-4
The nucleus of a human cell is about
7 X 10-6 meters in diameter. What is the
length in standard notation?

.000007
A ribosome, another part of a cell, is
about 0.000000003 of a meter in
diameter. Write the length in
scientific notation.
3 X 10-9
Exercise A:
Rewrite the given numbers using a scientific
notation.
1. 2000.0 cm
2. 0.003 287 km
3. 87 400 m
4. 6 904 x 10² us
5. 272.27 x 10¯³ L
 LESSON 3:
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES AND ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS

• Three kinds of numbers are encountered in chemistry and in everyday

life – counted, defined and measured.
• Counted items are expressed as exact whole numbers (5 test tubes, 12
books).
• Defined relations are exact numbers but are not always whole numbers.
These numbers come from definition. For example, there are exactly 12
inches per foot, or there are 2.54 centimeters in one inch.
• Measured numbers are those that are obtained from reading measuring
devices; these numbers are never exact.
• All the digits that are part of a measurement are considered significant
figures or significant digits.

number of significant figures = all certain digits + one uncertain digit

• The number of significant figures in a
measurement is equal to the number of digits
with high certainty plus the first uncertain digit in
the measurement.
• For example, 3.274 has 4 significant figures – 3,2
and 7 have high certainty, while 4 is an
approximation.
• The number of significant figures of a
measurement increases as the sensitivity of the
equipment used is improved.
• The uncertainty of an equipment is expressed as
a ± value.
Determining Significant Figures
The following are the rules for determining the number of significant figures of a measurement.
1. Every nonzero digit in a reported measurement is significant.
Examples: 791.22 m has 5 significant digits
553 has 3 significant digits
2. Leftmost zeros before the first nonzero digit are not
significant; they only act as a placeholders to show the position
of the decimal point.
Examples: 0.089 g has 2 significant digits
0.0009 g has 1 significant digit
3. Zeros in between nonzero digits are significant.
Examples: 0.005005 m has 4 significant digits
46 073 m has 5 significant digits
4. Zeros to the right of a nonzero digit and to the right of the decimal point are
significant.
Examples: 36.00 m has 4 significant digits
0.350 s has 3 significant digits
310.009 mL has 6 significant digits
5. Zeros at the rightmost end of a measurement that lie to the left of an
“understood decimal point” are not significant if they serve as placeholders. If
such zeros were known measured values, then they would be significant. These
values can be clarified as significant if they are written in scientific notation.
Examples: 80 000 m has 1 significant digit
43 320 m has 4 significant digits
1 000 m = 1.000 x 10³ m has 4 significant digits
Exercise B:
How many significant figures do the given mass measurements have?

1. 40.5 g
2. 40.500 g
3. 0.045 g
4. 45 000 g
5. 45 g
Significant Figures in Mathematical Operations

• The answer to an addition or subtraction

problem should not have more decimal places
than the least accurate measurement. In other
words, the number with the least number of
decimal places will dictate the number of
decimal places in the answer.
• In multiplying or dividing measurements, the
answer should not have more significant
digits than the measurement having the
fewest significant digits.
Exercise C:
Solve the given problems. Express the final answer in the correct number of significant digits.
1. (14.7 g) + (2.028 g)
2. (57.14 m) – (29.5 m)
3. 1008.67 km
52.83 L
4. (65.02 cm) x (3.87 cm) x )0.250 cm)
5. (11.48 m) – (27.1 cm)
6. (5.133 m) + (184.0 cm) + (5.6 cm)
7. (10.40 m) x (2.83 m)
8. 3.19 g
10.158 mL