Algebra 1

Section 1.3

Orders of Magnitude and Scientific Notation

Orders of Magnitude

A number that is 10 times larger than a quantity is said to be a factor of 10 larger than that
quantity. A number 100 times larger than a quantity is said to be 2 factors of 10 larger than that
quantity. It is useful in math to describe numbers that are certain factors of 10 larger than a base unit
with domains, which we call orders of magnitude.

An order of magnitude is similar to a factor of 10, with the difference that an order of magnitude
is more approximate. For example, 110 and 120 are of the same order of magnitude. They are each
one order of magnitude larger then 10. 990, however, is very close to 1000 and so can be described as
one order of magnitude larger than 110. Classifying numbers by orders of magnitude is useful because
it makes conversions between units easy and we know a calculation was done wrong if the result is
several orders of magnitude off of what we expected.

Units and orders of magnitude

There are certain prefixes that we can add to units that change the physical value the unit
represents by an order of magnitude. An example that might be familiar is a centimeter, which is one
hundred times smaller than a meter. Similarly, a kilometer is one thousand times larger than a meter.
Examples of these prefixes and the amount they change a unit by are in the table below.

Prefix Factor change Symbol

Kilo 1,000x larger k
Hecto 100x larger h
Deca 10x larger da
Deci 10x smaller d
Centi 100x smaller c
Milli 1,000x smaller m

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Scientific notation

Scientific notation is a convenient way of expressing numbers with several different orders of mag-
nitude. To write a number in scientific notation, one looks for the first nonzero digit and writes the
following digits as decimal places. Then, the decimal number is multiplied by a power of 10 depending
on the original numbers order of magnitude.

For example, to convert 568000 to scientific notation, one first identifies 5 as the first nonzero
digit while 6 and 8 are the subsequent digits, so 5.68 is the decimal of to be converted. To convert 5.68
to the proper order of magnitude, we multiply by an appropriate power of 10. In this case, the decimal
point of 568000 is five places to the right of the first digit, 5 (notice 568000 = 568000.0). Thus, we
multiply by 105 . So, 568000 in scientific notation is 5.68 105 .

Also, numbers can be less than one and written in scientific notation. For example, to convert
0.0000431 in scientific notation, one first identifies 4 as the first nonzero digit while 3 and 1 are the
subsequent digits, so 4.31 is the decimal to be converted. To convert 4.31 to the proper order of
magnitude, we multiply by an appropriate power of 10. In this case, the decimal point of 0.0000431
is 5 places to the left of 3, and the decimal place in 4.31 is right before the 3. Thus, we multiply by
105 . So, 0.0000431 in scientific notation is 4.31 105 .

Unit conversions

We can put these two skills together to convert between units using orders of magnitude. For
example, 1 kilometer is 1,000 meters, or 103 meters. 2.5 liters is 2,500 milliliters or 2.5 103 milliliters.

Using the conversion factors found in the table on the previous page, we can convert between
any units of this form, and express the conversion in scientific notation. This is useful when comparing
orders of magnitude, which may be difficult to comprehend abstractly. For example, if something is 10
kilometers long and another item is 10 centimeters, it is difficult to say how much larger the first object
is than than the second object when their lengths are in this form. However, we know 10 kilometers
104
is 10 103 or 104 meters, and 10 centimeters is 10 102 or 101 meters. We know 10 5
1 = 10 , so
5
we have that the first object is 10 larger than the second object.

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Examples

Here are a few examples to test the concepts provided in this section. Answers can be found on
the following pages.

1. Express 15,300,000 in scientific notation.

2. Express 0.0000102 in scientific notation.

3. Convert 4,600 kilometers to millimeters.

4. A micrometer is 1,000,000 times smaller than a meter. That is, a micrometer is 106 meters.
How much larger is 5 kilometers than 50 micrometers?

5. Which of the following represents the least weight?

A. 1 kilogram
B. 10,000 grams
C. 1010 milligrams
D. 100 hectograms

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Solutions

These are the solutions to the questions on the previous page

1. First, we find 1 as the first nonzero digit, followed by 5 and 3. The decimal point is 7 places to
the right of the 1, so number expressed in scientific notation is 1.53 107 .

2. First we find 1 as the first nonzero digit, followed by 0 and 2. The decimal point is 5 places to
left of the 0 between 1 and 2, so the number in scientific notation is 1.02 105 .

3. One kilometer is 103 meters, and one meter is 103 millimeters. Thus, one kilometer is 103 103 ,
or 106 millimeters. We have 4,600 kilometers, so we have 4.6 103 kilometers or 4.6 103 106
millimeters. Combining the powers of 10, we get 4.6 109 millimeters.

4. If a micrometer is 106 meters, then a meter is 106 micrometers. A kilometer is 103 meters, so
it is 106 103 micrometers, or 109 micrometers. 5 kilometers is then 5 109 micrometers. 50
micrometers is the same as 5 101 micrometers, so to find how much larger 5 kilometers is than
5109
50 micrometers, we divide 5 109 by 5 101 . The fives cancel, and we get 510 8
1 = 10 . Thus,
8
5 kilometers is 10 times larger than 50 micrometers.

5. The correct answer is A. 1 kilogram is 103 grams. 10,000 grams is 104 grams. 1 milligram is 103
grams, so 1010 milligrams is 107 grams. Finally, 1 hectograms is 102 grams, so 100 hectograms
is 104 grams. The smallest exponent will represent the smallest quantity, since the leading digit
of all these numbers is 1. The exponent of 1 kilogram is 3, and 3 < 4 = 4 < 7, so the kilogram
represents the smallest quantity listed.