Name ___________________ Date ________

Section # ________ http://www.stmary.ws/physics/home/

Scientific Notation / Accurate Reporting of Data

Scientists very often deal with very small and very large numbers, which can lead to a lot of confusion when counting zeros. We have learned to express these numbers as powers of 10.

Scientific notation takes the form of M x 10ⁿ where 1 ³ M < 10 and ‘n’ represents the number of decimal places to be moved. Positive n indicates the standard form is larger than zero whereas negative n would indicate a number smaller than zero.

Example 1: 1,500,000 converts to 1.5 X 10 ⁶

Example 2: 2.5 X 10 ^-5 converts to 0.000025

Convert the following to scientific notation. (2 points each)

1. 0.005 = _______________ 4. 1,000 = _______________

2. 5,050 = _______________ 5. 1,000,000 = _______________

3. 0.0008 = _____________

Convert the following to standard notation. (2 points each)

1. 1.5 x 10 ³ = _______________ 3. 3.75 x 10 ^{- 2} = _______________

2. 1.5 x 10 ^{- 3} = _______________ 4. 3.75 x 10 ² = _______________

Taking and Reporting Accurate Measurements

1. Use you ruler to measure the length if this line __________ (10 points)

2. All measurements are approximations. The way you report a measurement describes the accuracy of your measuring device.

Do all these measurements mean the same thing? (10 points)

1.0 1.00 1.000

Yes or No? Why? (Full Sentence)

3. When you report a number your last digit is looked on as an estimate.

7 8

Circle the number below that matches the measurement above? (10 points)

7.24 cm Accurate to a tenth of a cm

7.241 cm Accurate to a _______________ of a cm (10 points)

7.2 cm Accurate to a ________________ of a cm (10 points)

7 8

How would you report this measurement? ________________ (5 points)

2 3

How would you report this measurement? ________________ (5 points)

Lab Activity

1. Name one object in our classroom that has a length or width that is very close to 1 meter long _______________ (3 points)

a) Exactly what is this measurement? __________ m (4 points)

2. Estimate the height of Marist in meters _________________ m (3 points)

3. Find something in your book bag that has a length or width that is very close to 1 cm long _______________ (3 points)

a) Exactly what is this measurement? __________ cm (3 points)

4. Use your meter stick and stop watch to find out the approximate walking speed of one of your lab partners.

Speed = distance/time __________________ = ___________________ (4 points)