Exponents
An exponent is a number that shows how many times the base is used as a factor. A base is when a number is raised to a power, or has an exponent, the number used as a factor is the base. The first thing you do is look at the number 5 to the 2nd power. In the number 5 to the 2nd power, the 5 is the base, and the 2 is the exponent. So it would look like 5 x 5 because it's 5 times itself 2 times. It would not be 5 x 2 because you don't multiply the base and the exponent. http://www.mathgoodies.com/ is a great website to learn more about exponents.
Scientific Notation
The scientific notation is a way to write very big or small numbers by using powers of 10. First, you look at the number 364,000,000. The decimal should always be at the very end of the number when doing scientific notations. Next, you move the decimal after the first number. Who many spaces did you move to get the decimal after the first number? You start at the end then count how many spaces, including the 6 and 4, it takes to get behind the 3. The answer would be 8 spaces. So, when you write it out, it would look like 3.64. You won't need the zeros at the end because it's the same value. When you write the whole problem out to show the value of the number it would be 3.64 x 10 to the 8th power because 10 x 8 = 100,000,000. 100,000,000 x 3.64 = 364,000,000. http://www.purplemath.com/ really helps learning about exponents and scientific notation.
Life Situation
I know sometimes you think you won't need to know this, but in your lifetime it will save time. Scientists use this method to save them time in writing really small or big numbers when they do their work. Do you want to write a million zeros in your numbers? Or do you want to save time? Hmmm........
