Scientific notation: coefficient, step by step
The coefficient is the front of a number in scientific notation — the part between 1 and 10.
The question
7300000
7300000=▢ × 10▢
7300000
730000
73000
7300
730
73
7.3
7300000=7.3 × 10⁶
- Scientific notation writes a number as something between 1 and 10, times a power of ten. The question is where the point has to sit for that.
- Move the point until exactly one non-zero digit is in front of it: 7.3. Count the places — that is 6.
- That gives 7.3, which is between 1 and 10 — so it is the coefficient. 7300000 = 7.3 × 10⁶.
How it works.
- 01
Scientific notation writes a number as something between 1 and 10, times a power of ten. The question is where the point has to sit for that.
- 02
Move the point until exactly one non-zero digit is in front of it: 7.3. Count the places — that is 6.
- 03
That gives 7.3, which is between 1 and 10 — so it is the coefficient. 7300000 = 7.3 × 10⁶.