1.1 Order of magnitude
Task: State and compare quantities to the nearest order of magnitude
1) Express the number of seconds in a day as an order of magnitude.
2) find the order of magnitude of the following values;
a. Acceleration of free fall (Earth’s surface), g [data booklet]
b. Elementary charge, e [data booklet]
c. The mass of Mercury (3.3x1023kg)
3) Your mass and the mass of the Earth are 102 and 1025 kg, respectively. How many times
more massive is the Earth compared to you?
4) The volume of the Earth is 1.10x1012km3. The volume of the Sun is 1.41x1018km3
a. Express the volume of the Earth and the Sun as orders of magnitude
b. Use these orders of magnitude to calculate many times larger the volume of the Sun is
compared to the Earth?
Scientific notation and metric multipliers
DEFINE - Scientific notation is a different format for writing large and small
numbers. A number written in scientific notation consists of a decimal value
between 1 and 10 (represented by a) multiplied by a power of 10(represented
by 10n).
a x 10n
1 Express the following in scientific notation.
a 237
.....................................................................................................................................................................
b 37529035903475
...............................................................................................................................................
c 0.00354
..............................................................................................................................................................
d 0.02020202
........................................................................................................................................................
2 Convert the following to decimal form.
a 2.369 × 106
........................................................................................................................................................
b 7.85 × 10–5
.........................................................................................................................................................
3 Solve the following.
a 1.25 × 105 + 2.8 × 104 =
....................................................................................................................................
b 2.36 × 103 × 4.51 × 103 =
..................................................................................................................................
c (2.22)4 =
.............................................................................................................................................................
d 1.26 × 102 / 385 =
..............................................................................................................................................
4 Express the following in scientific notation.
a 13 μm + 18 μm =
...............................................................................................................................................
b 2.5 Mm + 5600 km =
.........................................................................................................................................