Scientific notationFind the power of ten
Name: Date:
Fill in the missing power of ten.
181000000 = 8.1 × 10n, n =
25200000 = 5.2 × 10n, n =
32400 = 2.4 × 10n, n =
4760000000 = 7.6 × 10n, n =
5880 = 8.8 × 10n, n =
625000 = 2.5 × 10n, n =
Scientific notation: power of ten worksheets
Writing a standard number in scientific notation has two parts, and this sheet asks for the harder one: the power of ten. These free printable worksheets give the coefficient and ask for the exponent, with an answer key.
Kid stuck on one? You don’t just get the sheet.
Scientific notation: power of ten
The answer key prints on a separate page.
What's on this sheet
To write 48000 as 4.8 × 10ⁿ, the point moves four places from after the 8 to between the 4 and the 8 — so n is 4. Asking for the exponent on its own is what makes the counting visible: a child who writes 48 × 10³ has moved the point the wrong distance, and a question with the coefficient already filled in shows exactly that.
Why this sheet works
The power of ten is a count of places, not a count of zeros, and the two come apart the moment a number has digits after the leading one. 48000 has three zeros but its exponent is 4, because the point travels past the 8 as well. Every number here is one where that distinction matters.
How this one works
One question from this sheet, worked through a step at a time.
81000000
81000000=▢ × 10▢
81000000
8100000
810000
81000
8100
810
81
8.1
81000000=8.1 × 10⁷
- 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: 8.1. Count the places — that is 7.
- The point moved 7 places, so the power is 7. 81000000 = 8.1 × 10⁷.