Addition and Subtraction of Scientific Notation Numbers

When dealing with numbers written in scientific notation, you must make sure that you convert them to the same exponent before trying to align their significant digits.

For example, what is 3.125 x 10-6 + 2.50 x 10-5?

addn3.gif (2848 bytes) лллл Report the answer as 2.81 x 10-5

 

How should the following be reported?  Assume that each number is an experimental result with the correct number of significant digits. Make sure you answer in scientific notation (for example 1.23E-45).

3.2987 x 103  + 0.23 + 5.0000 x 104  =

 1.0246 x 10-8 - 1.00 x 10-11 =

 

 

Try some scientific notation problems for practice.