Scientific notation was created to handle the wide range of values which occur in scientific study. 1.0 × 109, for example, means one billion, a 1 followed by nine zeros: 1 000 000 000, and 1.0 × 10−9 means one billionth, or 0.000 000 001. Writing 109 instead of nine zeros saves readers the effort and hazard of counting a long series of zeros to see how large the number is.
Adding a 0 at the end of a number multiplies it by 10; 100 is 10 times 10. In scientific notation, however, the exponent only increases by one, from 101 to 102.
The concept behind scientific notation is this mathematical exponential expression using powers of ten:
where the exponent b is an integer, and the coefficient a is any real number, called the significand
