Question

The mass of a proton is about 1.7 \times 10^(-24). Write this number in standard notation.

Answer 1

Now we have a negative exponent, which is the opposite of a positive exponent.

If a positive exponent means you're multiplying by 10s and it makes a number bigger by moving the decimal to the right, then

the opposite of this is that a negative exponent means you're dividing by 10s and making the number smaller by moving the decimal point to the left.

Examples:

`930 / 10 = 93`

`{\bf930 / 10} / 10 = {\bf 93} / 10 = 9.3`

The trick is to recognize that

`930 / 10` is the same thing as
`930 * 10^(-1)`

`{}/ 10` and
`{}* 10^(-1)` mean the same thing.

So,
`930 {\bf {}/ 10 / 10} = 930 {\bf {}* 10^(-1) * 10^(-1)} = 930 {\bf {}* 10^(-2)} = 9.3`

For your exercise,
`{}*10^(-24)` means you'll move the decimal point 24 places to the left, to make the number smaller.