How can I express 12 million in scientific notation?

To express the number 12 million in scientific notation, you first need to understand what scientific notation is and how it works. Scientific notation is a way of writing very large or very small numbers in a more concise form. It is commonly used in scientific and mathematical contexts to simplify calculations and to make numbers easier to read.

Here’s how you can convert 12 million into scientific notation:

1. Identify the number: In this case, our number is 12,000,000.
2. Move the decimal point: Scientific notation requires us to write the number between 1 and 10. For 12 million, you would move the decimal point one place to the left, resulting in 1.2.
3. Count the places: Since we moved the decimal point 7 places to the left (from 12 million to 1.2), we represent that as a power of ten. Hence, we write x 10⁷.

Putting it all together, 12 million in scientific notation is 1.2 x 10⁷.

This representation is not only more concise but also helps in various mathematical calculations, especially when dealing with very large numbers.