**ACTIVITY 1-1A Scientific Notation on the Calculator**

The rules for working with numbers in scientific notation are not
complicated:

MULTIPLICATION: multiply the numbers and add the powers of ten

DIVISION: divide the numbers and subtract the powers of ten

ADDITION/SUBTRACTION: powers of ten must be the same; add/subtract the
numbers;

> power of ten remains the same

STANDARD FORM: the number part must be between 1 and 10.

The handheld scientific calculator does all of these steps
automatically. The following example calculations were done using a
Texas Instruments TI-30X SOLAR calculator. Steps on other calculators
are similar although some key names and procedures are different.
Consult the manual if you are using a different calculator.

(NOTE: when it says to "PRESS", that refers to a calculator key. If a
number is being entered, simply press the digits in order.)

The following are the "Example Problems" from Activity 1.

Multiply: 300 x 300,000,000

+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
| #       |                            |   | # CALCULATOR DISPLAY       |
|   PRESS |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+

Divide: 4000000 / 3 x 10^8^

+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
| #       |                            |   | # CALCULATOR DISPLAY       |
|   PRESS |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+

Subtract: 2.28 x 10^11^ **--** 1.50 x 10^11^

+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
| #       |                            |   | # CALCULATOR DISPLAY       |
|   PRESS |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+

Additional Examples:

Subtraction when the numbers have different powers of ten.

Subtract: 4.6 x 10^10^ **--** 3.9 x 10^9­­^

+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
| #       |                            |   | # CALCULATOR DISPLAY       |
|   PRESS |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+
|         |                            |   |                            |
+---------+----------------------------+---+----------------------------+

Notice that all answers are given in standard form automatically. Also,
in the last example there is no need to change the numbers to the same
power of ten -- that is done by the calculator.