 Welcome to Scientific Notation. How can I convert a number larger than one to scientific notation? Below you see both large, ordinary numbers and numbers written in scientific notation. The approximate distance that light travels in one year, called a light year, is 9 quadrillion 450 trillion meters. The student pictured below has three thoughts. That large number is very difficult to read and very inconvenient to write. Expressing it in scientific notation would be much simpler. How can I convert it to scientific notation? To convert a number larger than one to scientific notation, follow these three steps. Step 1. Move the decimal point so that one, and only one, non-zero digit is to the left of the decimal point. Drop all unnecessary zeros. Step 2. Count the number of places you would have to move the decimal point to get it back to its original position. That number is the power, or exponent, of 10. Since you have to move the decimal point to the right, which is the positive direction on a number line, to get it back to its original position, the power of 10 will be positive. Step 3. Write a multiplication problem with the new decimal number from step 1, being multiplied by the power of 10 from step 2. For example, let's go back to that large number that represents the approximate distance light travels in one year, a light year. Step 1. Move the decimal point so that one, and only one, non-zero digit is to the left of the decimal point. Drop all unnecessary zeros. This gives us 9.45. Step 2. Count the number of places you would have to move the decimal point to get back to its original position. That number is the power, or exponent, of 10. Since you have to move the decimal point to the right, which is the positive direction on a number line, to get back to its original position, the power of 10 will be positive. We count 15. This means 10 to the 15th power. Step 3. Write a multiplication problem with the new decimal number from step 1, being multiplied by the power of 10 from step 2. 9.45 from step 1, times 10 to the 15th power from step 2. Now try these. Congratulations! You've completed converting large numbers to scientific notation.