Operations with Scientific Notation

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To add or subtract, rewrite the numbers to the same power of 10, add or subtract the multipliers, and rewrite in scientific notation. To multiply or divide, multiply or divide the multipliers, multiply or divide the powers of 10, and rewrite the answer in scientific notation.

Operations with scientific notation can be handled either by converting the numbers into standard notation or by keeping them in scientific notation and rewriting the powers of 10 using the properties of exponents.

How do you add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers written in scientific notation? To add or subtract, rewrite the numbers to the same power of 10, add or subtract the multipliers, and rewrite the answer in scientific notation. To multiply or divide, multiply or divide the multipliers, use the rules of exponents to multiply or divide the powers of 10, and rewrite the answer in scientific notation.

How is multiplying and dividing numbers in scientific notation different from adding and subtracting numbers in scientific notation? You can add or subtract numbers written in scientific notation only if their powers of 10 are the same. You can multiply and divide numbers written in scientific notation that have different powers. The laws of exponents are used to combine the powers.

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