Page 1: Scientific Notation and Prefixes

This foundational mathematics lesson introduces scientific notation and metric prefixes, essential for representing large and small numbers efficiently. The page explains how to convert numbers to scientific notation using the a × 10ⁿ format and presents a comprehensive table of metric prefixes from tera- (T) to nano- $n$.

Definition: Scientific notation is the unique representation of a non-zero decimal number in the form a × 10ⁿ, where a is a decimal number greater than or equal to 1 and strictly less than 10.

Example: The number 456,000 can be written as 4.56 × 10⁵, moving the decimal point 5 places to the left. Similarly, 0.0064 becomes 6.4 × 10⁻³, moving the decimal point 3 places to the right.

Vocabulary:

• Tera- (T): 10¹²
• Giga- (G): 10⁹
• Mega- (M): 10⁶
• Kilo- $k$: 10³

Highlight: The prefix table provides a systematic way to express measurements across different scales, from very large $tera-$ to very small $nano-$ values, using powers of 10.

Quote: "Pour faciliter la lecture de certaines grandeurs, on peut utiliser des préfixes multiplicateurs avec les unités." (To facilitate reading certain quantities, multiplier prefixes can be used with units.)