Scientific Notation

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Scientific Notation

• Do you know this number?
• 300 000 000 m/sec
• Its the speed of light
• What about this number?
• 0.000 000 000 753 kg?
• Its the mass of a dust particle

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• These number are too big and take too long to
  write, so scientists came up with a shorter
  method called SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
• Based on powers of the base number 10
• Ex. 123 000 000 000 in scientific notation is
• 1.23 X 1011
• The first number 1.23 is the coefficient (it must
  be greater than or equal to 1, and less than 10
• The second number is the base. It is always 10.
  
• The third number is the exponent or power of ten.

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How to write a number in Scientific Notation
Ex. 123 000 000 000

• Place a decimal after the first digit and drop
  the zeros

1.23
? the coefficient

• To find the exponent count the number of places
  from the decimal to the end of the number.

In 123 000 000 000 there are 11 places
So the exponent is 11
123 000 000 000 in scientific notation is 1.23 X
1011
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• It is similar for small numbers
• The only difference is numbers less than 1 will
  have a negative exponent
• Ex. 0.000001 sec
• 1.0 is the coefficient
• There are 6 places from the decimal so the
  exponent is 6
• 1.0 X 10-6

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• Lets Try
• Page 587 Questions 1 and 2
• Section A and B on the practice sheet

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Using your Calculator
Complete section C on the practice sheet
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Measurement

• Measurement is the process of estimating the
  magnitude of some attribute of an object, such as
  its length, weight, or depth relative to some
  standard (unit of measurement), such as a meter
  or a kilogram.
• The term is also used to indicate the number that
  results from that process

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• The act of measuring usually involves using a
  measuring instrument, such as a ruler, weighing
  scale, thermometer, speedometer, or voltmeter,
  which is calibrated to compare the measured
  attribute to a measurement unit.

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• Measurements always have errors and therefore
  uncertainties

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Accuracy vs. Precision

• BRAINSTORM
• Accuracy describes the nearness of a measurement
  to the standard or true value
• Precision the amount of information that the
  instrument can provide

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Precise or Accurate?

• The TV weather forecaster says that it will be
  between 40 and 50 degrees today. The actual
  reading turns out to be 43.
• The forecast was accurate, but not very precise.
• For tomorrow, the forecast is 52.47 degrees at 4
  PM. It turns out to be 39.14 degrees.
• This forecast was very precise, but completely
  inaccurate.

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Precise or Accurate

• Ms. Bordens mass is 550.25 kg !!
• It is precise but not at all accurate
• Unless of course she looks like

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Now You Try

• In groups of 4 take 5 minutes to come up with
  your own situation to try and stump the class!