Question

How is scientific notation used in physics?

Answer 1

Hint : In any kind of science, we deal with very large numbers like the number of atoms in our body as well as very small numbers like the mass of an atom. Such numbers which are either very large or very small also become unreadable. Looking at the huge number of zeros before or after the decimal point also makes the mathematical figures unreadable. Thus, scientific notations are important and we shall try to know more about them.

Complete step-by-step solution:
Scientific notation is defined as a standardized way to represent any number as the product of a real number and a power of $10$. This notation has two parts, one is the real number coefficient and the other is the exponent of $10$.
For example, for a number, $a\times {{10}^{b}}$, $a$ is called the coefficient and $b$ is the exponent. The coefficient is defined as an integer (except zero) to the left of a decimal point plus a mantissa. A mantissa is defined as the significant digits to the right of the decimal point.
The standard notation of any figure follows certain rules. The base is always $10$. The exponent is a non-zero integer (positive or negative). The decimal point comes after one digit only. Rest of the digits are placed after the decimal point and the zeroes are represented as 10 raised to some negative or positive number.

Note:
Scientific notation is also called standard form. It is a convenient way to write a very small as well as a very large number. Dealing with unusually big or small numbers becomes very difficult but once the figures are in their scientific notation, it becomes easier to perform basic mathematical operations on them.