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Physics vocabulary · Measurement and Units

Scientific notation

Meaning in physics, with examples

nounCore term

In physics, scientific notation means: A way of writing very large or very small numbers as a number between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of ten, for example 3.0 × 10⁸ instead of 300,000,000.

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How it is used

Called standard form in the UK. Read 3.0 × 10⁸ aloud as 'three point oh times ten to the eight'. Calculators show it with E or EXP, so 6.63E-34 means 6.63 × 10⁻³⁴. It also makes the number of significant figures clear.

Example sentences

  1. Write the mass of the electron in scientific notation: 9.11 × 10⁻³¹ kg.

  2. Give your answer in scientific notation to three significant figures.

Common collocations

  • in scientific notation
  • standard form
  • power of ten
  • exponent
  • significant figuresThe digits in a number that carry real information about its precision, counted from the first non-zero digit. For example, 0.00450 has three significant figures.
  • order of magnitudeThe approximate size of a number expressed as the nearest power of ten. Two values that differ by a factor of about ten differ by one order of magnitude.
  • SI unitsThe international system of measurement units used in science, based on seven base units such as the metre, kilogram, second, ampere and kelvin. SI comes from the French 'Système international'.

More terms: Measurement and Units

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