Now anyone who wants can make and print as many worksheets as they like for multiplying and dividing numbers by powers of ten. So, instead of making one worksheet for my son, I made a worksheet generator. My wife asked me to prepare some power of 10 multiplying and dividing practice questions, and I thought - I'm not going to be the only parent who wants a worksheet like that. Hopefully, this new rule will set him straight. Or, to divide by 1000, he'd shift the decimal point three places to the left, so : So, to multiply 19.47 by 1000, he'll now shift the decimal place three spaces across, writing in any invisible zeroes he needs. This rule is just as simple as the earlier one (once you know what a decimal point is), but it works for all kinds of numbers. To multiply or divide by a power of 10, you shift the decimal point 00000019.47 000000., say - and even a number like 3 has the same, as well as an invisible decimal place, making it. I taught him to imagine, instead, that a number like 19.47 has an invisible infinite string of zeroes before and after - as if it were. However, the rule fails you when you need to multiply decimals - add a zero onto the end of 19.47 and you get 19.470, not the right answer at all. To multiply these by zero, you really do add a zero on the end - getting 30, 10. Now, that works fine for numbers like 3, 12 or 1739. To multiply by 10, you add a zero at the end In grade 1 or 2, he would have picked up the rule : When I sat down with him, I discovered the cause - he was using an outdated method. The above few examples show that when the power of ten is positive, the zero moves to the right-hand side, and when the power is negative, the zeros jump to the left-hand side.My son had trouble multiplying and dividing by ten, a hundred, a thousand, and so forth. If we were exploring the universe and describing the location of things in space, we would be working with very large values that could be explained in positive powers of ten.Įxamples of non-negative and negative powers of ten are: When we are working with really small values like things found on a microscope or, better yet, an electron microscope we would use measures in negative powers of ten to quantify those values. These exponents can be negative, as well as positive. In this case the number 10 is the focus of the powers of ten. This power system or commonly known as powers of ten features a positive integer that denotes the number of times a number has been multiplied by itself. Thanks to the introduction of the power system, which has made it easy to deal with big numbers. Placing the multiple zeros can take an entire lifetime. Writing them down over and over is a difficult and tiring thing. Quiz 3 - The end puts it all together for you.Įven the thought of writing dealing with complex and large numbers is enough to scare you off.

$power of ten worksheets$

Quiz 2 - Lots of different work for you.Remember to get students in the habit of adding commas to any numbers over 999. Practice 3 - Express scientific notation in standard form.Practice 2 - Write 0.0000916 in scientific notation.Practice 1 - Move the decimal point to the tight until you are between a ones and tenths place.In addition to what students saw on the homework, we add the comparison of values. Homework 3 - The positive exponent of 10 tells how many places to the right to move the decimal point.This tells us that every tens place we move will result in a negative exponent. Homework 2 - This number is less than one.Count how many places you move the decimal point.

Homework 1 - Move the decimal point to the left until the number is between 1 and tenth place.

Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.ĭecimals to scientific form for the first two homework sheets.

Write in Scientific Notation Five Pack - I go heavy on the zeroes here.

Converting Between Standard Form and Scientific Notation Five Pack -Write it in scientific form then change it back again.

Scientific Notation Five Pack - Make it a decimal.

Matching Worksheet -I like this one because you can get kids in the habit of focusing on the front part of notation easily with this.

It may be configured for 1, 2, or 3 digits on the right. But scientific notation is most commonly known as the language of nuclear chemistry and physics. This decimals worksheet will produce decimal multiplication problems with facts being powers of ten.

Independent Practice - The nuclear symbol throws off some people.

Guided Lesson Explanation - With any math problem, I always recommend getting the integers to be treated the same.

Guided Lesson - Jump between standard form, scientific notation, and comparing powers of ten.

Some people complain about that, but the testing often has no commas.

Scientific Notation Step-by-Step Lesson- Sorry that I didn't add the commas to the zeroes in the number that is presented.

Power of ten worksheets