The correct answer to this problem is: 8.55 * 10^5
Explanation: Step ONE: Move the decimal place to the left to create a new number from 1 up to 10.
- Where’s the decimal point in 312,000,000,000? Because it’s a whole number, the decimal point is understood to be at the end of the number: 312,000,000,000.
So, N = 3.12.
Step TWO: Determine the exponent, which is the number of times you moved the decimal.
-In this example, you moved the decimal 11 times; also, because you moved the decimal to the left, the exponent is positive. Therefore, a = 11, and so you get
Step THREE: Put the number in the correct form for scientific notation
