Question

Sylvester says that 0.000002015 written in scientific notation is 2.015 x 10 by the power of 6. Do you agree with him? Explain why or why not.

Answer 1

`0.000002015` is not equal to
`2.015x10^6`

Explanation:

When a power of 10 is positive the dot must be moved to the right, and when the power of 10 is negative, the dot must be moved to the left.

For example
`50.000x10^3=50000` and
`45.00x10^(-3)=0.045`

So

`2.015x10^6=2,015,000`

wich is clearly not equal to 0.000002015

the correct scientific notation for 0.000002015 must be:

`2.015x10^(-6)`

With a negative in the power of 10, referring to a small quantity.