COMPARING NUMBERS IN SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
The power of 10 in scientific notation tells you the size of the number.
TASK 1
How much bigger?
6 × 105 and 6 × 103 differ by a factor of 102.
102 = 100, so 6 × 105 is 100 times bigger than 6 × 103.
For each of the following pair of numbers, circle the larger number and determine how many times
bigger it is than the smaller number.
1
8 × 104 and 8 × 107
2
7 × 106 and 7 × 100
3
2 × 10−4 and 2 × 10−3
4
9 × 10−5 and 9 × 102
TASK 2
Order these numbers
Use the power of ten to compare the size of these numbers. Cut them out and arrange them in ascending
order (from smallest to largest).
9 × 103
1 × 10−4
9 × 10−4
8 × 10−1
6 × 101
7 × 105
−3
2 × 10
−8
5 × 10
4 × 103
3 × 10−6
7 × 106
6 × 102