Scientific notationNegative powers of ten
Name: Date:
Write each number in standard form. The exponent is negative, not the number.
12.1 × 10−5 =
29.5 × 10−5 =
35.5 × 10−1 =
46.8 × 10−5 =
58.8 × 10−2 =
62.8 × 10−1 =
Scientific notation: small numbers worksheets
A negative power of ten writes a very small number in scientific notation, and 6.2 × 10⁻⁴ is a small positive number — not a negative one. These free printable worksheets convert those forms to standard form, with an answer key.
Kid stuck on one? You don’t just get the sheet.
Scientific notation: small numbers
The answer key prints on a separate page.
What's on this sheet
6.2 × 10⁻⁴ is 0.00062: the negative exponent moves the decimal point four places to the left, making the number smaller, not negative. That misreading is exactly what this sheet collects — a child who thinks the minus belongs to the value writes −62000, which is wrong in both sign and size.
Why this sheet works
Every number here uses a negative power of ten, so the answer is always a decimal smaller than one. Counting the places the point moves is half of what the standard asks, and the numbers print without their zeros grouped away, so a child does the counting rather than reading it off.
How this one works
One question from this sheet, worked through a step at a time.
2.1 × 10⁻⁵
10⁻⁵=1 ÷ 100000
2.1
0.21
0.021
0.0021
0.00021
0.000021
2.1
0.21
0.021
0.0021
0.00021
0.000021
2.1 × 10⁻⁵=0.000021
- The minus sign is on the POWER, not on the number. 10⁻⁵ means 1 ÷ 100000, so 2.1 × 10⁻⁵ is a small positive number — never a negative one.
- Dividing by ten moves every digit down one place, which shows up as the point moving one place left. There are 5 of them here, so the point moves 5 places left.
- Following it the whole way: 2.1 → 0.21 → 0.021 → 0.0021 → 0.00021 → 0.000021. So 2.1 × 10⁻⁵ = 0.000021.