Expressing a number in scientific notation involves writing it as a product of a decimal number (between 1 and 10) and a power of 10. Here is the step-by-step process:
1. Identify the significant figures in the given number, which is 7,980.
2. Identify where the decimal point should be placed in the number to make it a number between 1 and 10. For 7,980, the decimal point should be placed after the first digit, making it 7.98.
3. Count how many places the decimal point was moved from its original position to its new position. Originally, the decimal point in 7,980 is after the last zero (implicitly at the end). We move the decimal point three places to the left:
- Moving past the zeroes and the 8: 798.0
- Moving past the 9: 79.80
- Moving past the 7: 7.980
Thus, we moved the decimal point 3 places.
4. Express the number as a product of the decimal number and 10 raised to the power of the number of places the decimal point was moved. For 7,980, this is [tex]\(7.98 \times 10^3\)[/tex].
Therefore, the scientific notation of 7,980 is:
[tex]\[ 7,980 = 7.98 \times 10^3 \][/tex]
