Remember that the powers of 10 are as follows:
100 = 1
101 = 10 10–1 = 0.1 = 1
1 0
102 = 100 10–2 = 0.01 = 1
100
103 = 1000 10–3 = 0.001 = 1
1000
104 = 10,000 10–4 = 0.0001 = 1
1 0,000
...and so forth.
There are some important powers that we use often:
103 = 1000 = one thousand 10–3 = 0.001 = one thousandth
106 = 1,000,000 = one million 10–6 = 0.000 001 = one millionth
109 = 1,000,000,000 = one billion 10–9 = 0.000 000 001 = one billionth
1012 = 1,000,000,000,000 = one trillion 10–12 = 0.000 000 000 001 = one trillionth
In the left-hand columns above, where n is positive, note that n is simply the same as the number of zeroes in the
full written-out form of the number! However, in the right-hand columns where n is negative, note that |n| is one
greater than the number of place-holding zeroes.
