The material here is a sample from the book:

Living Maths 3B

Each of the sample pages from the eight core books in the Living Maths series attempts to show a different facet of the series. (Please note that some of the formatting is lost in presenting this page for the web).

Visitors to this site are free to download this page for use in their classroom.

Living Maths 3B, page 46:

ENRICHMENT: SCIENTIFIC CALCULATORS

A scientific calculator is one which can handle numbers in scientific notation.

There is a key on the calculator, usually labelled EXP, that allows us to enter a number in scientific notation.

For example, the speed of light (3 x 10⁸ m/s) is entered as 3 EXP 8 and on the calculator looks like this:

or

EXERCISE 16

1. Enter these numbers on your calculator.

(a) 8 x 10⁴

(b) 3.5 x 10¹²

(c) 5.15 x 10¹³

(d) 6.023 x 10²³

2. Find these answers.

(a) 7 000 000 x 35 000

(b) 210 000 000 x 615 000

(c) 375 000²

(d) 100¹⁰

3. Perform these calculations. Write your answers in scientific notation.

(a) 2x10³ x 3x10⁵

(b) 3x10⁸ + 5x10⁸

(c) 9x10¹² ÷ 4x10⁶

(d) 7x10⁸ - 5x10⁸

(e) 3.27x10¹⁵ x 8.14x10⁵

(f) 7.4x10⁷ + 3.2x10⁵

(g) 8.4x10¹⁰ ÷ 2.5x10⁷

(h) 5.4671x10¹¹ - 6.71x10⁹

4. If the speed of light is 3 x 10⁸ metres per second what is its speed in;

(a) kilometres per second?

(b) kilometres per hour?

5. If Australia's foreign debt is $180 000 000 000 and we have to pay about 7% per annum interest, how much would this interest be?

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