Chapter 4 - Polynomials - 4.2 Negative Exponents and Scientific Notations - 4.2 Exercise Set - Page 245: 127

Scientific notation is a useful way of writing very large or very small numbers that occur in science. It relies on exponents to simplify those numbers, which is why the rules of exponents need to be understood to use it.

For example, $460,754$ in scientific notation is $4.60574\cdot 10^{5}$. This means $4.60574 \cdot 10\cdot 10\cdot 10\cdot 10\cdot 10$. Using The Product Property we write it as $4.60574\cdot 10^{1+1+1+1+1}=4.60574\cdot 10^{5}$.