Scientific Notation
GMAT glossary · GMAT
Definition
Expressing a number as a × 10^n where 1 ≤ |a| < 10 and n is an integer.
Scientific Notation in plain English
Scientific notation is a compact way to write very big or very tiny numbers without drowning in zeros. You write the number as one digit-with-decimals (between 1 and 10) times a power of 10, so 3,000 becomes 3 × 10^3 and 0.0004 becomes 4 × 10^-4. The exponent is basically a note saying 'now shift the decimal point this many places.' It's the difference between writing out a bank balance with fifteen zeros and just jotting the shorthand.
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