Scientific Notation (general requirement for the course)

[Tyler Angtuaco 1G]

Are we required to write our answers in scientific notation? Or are the correct significant figures the only requirement?

[Audrie Chan-3B]

I think we use scientific notation to write the answer with the correct number of significant figures. So if the answer was 12300 but the question only asks for 2 sig figs, we would write it as 1.2 x 10^4.

[Maya Beal Dis 1D]

You could also write it as 12000 because that also uses only 2 significant figures. Any zeros to the right of a whole number are not considered significant figures.

[Maya Pakulski 1D]

I think we use scientific notation to write the answer with the correct number of significant figures. So if the answer was 12300 but the question only asks for 2 sig figs, we would write it as 1.2 x 10^4.

If they do not specify which format we should use does it matter? Is there one that's better than the other?

[philipraj_1F]

I think we use scientific notation to write the answer with the correct number of significant figures. So if the answer was 12300 but the question only asks for 2 sig figs, we would write it as 1.2 x 10^4.

If they do not specify which format we should use does it matter? Is there one that's better than the other?

I think as long as you have the correct number of sig figs it shouldn't matter. So 12300 in a question with two sig figs could be written as 1.2 x 10^4 or 12000.

[Nathan Nakaguchi 1G]

I'm not entirely sure, I think that you're only required to write the correct amount of sig figs, but there can be cases were scientific notation would be more practical. I would just make sure that the reader can understand the sig figs in your answer.