SAT Practice Exam

« Previous Problem - Profit Items    Next Problem - Horizontal and Vertical Lines »

Scientific Notation

If 0.5474 = 5474 x 10^t, what is the value of t?

---

Answer
Problems like this involve decimal shifting. Since 0.5474 is less than 5474, we need to shift our decimal place to the left

Decimal Shift Step 1

Shifting the decimal place 1 place(s) to the left, we get 547.4

Decimal Shift Step 2

Shifting the decimal place 2 place(s) to the left, we get 54.74

Decimal Shift Step 3

Shifting the decimal place 3 place(s) to the left, we get 5.474

Decimal Shift Step 4

Shifting the decimal place 4 place(s) to the left, we get 0.5474

Shifting the decimal place left signifies a negative power, so our answer is t = -1 x 4 = -4

Writing this out in scientific formation using our answer, we get

0.5474 = 5474 x 10^-4