Engineering Notation Discussion Theory

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Engineering notation, a specialized form of scientific notation, is used widely

in technical fields to represent large and small quantities. In electronics,


engineering notation is used to represent values of voltage, current, power,
resistance, capacitance, inductance, and time, to name a few. Metric prefixes
are used in conjunction with engineering notation as a “short hand” for the
certain powers of ten that are multiples of three.

Engineering notation is similar to scientific notation. However, in engineering


notation a number can have from one to three digits to the left of the decimal
point and the power-of-ten exponent must be a multiple of three. For example,
the number 33,000 expressed in engineering notation is 33 * 103 . In scientific
notation, it is expressed as 3.3 * 104 . As another example, the number 0.045
expressed in engineering notation is 45 * 10-3 . In scientific notation, it is
expressed as 4.5 * 10-2 .

Scientific notation provides a convenient method to represent large and small


numbers and to perform calculations involving such numbers. In scientific
notation, a quantity is expressed as a product of a number between 1 and 10
and a power of ten. For example, the quantity 150,000 is expressed in
scientific notation as 1.5 * 105 , and the quantity 0.00022 is expressed as 2.2
* 10-4 .

1. Name at least 1 similarity and difference between Scientific notation


and Engineering notation.

SIMILARITY

The similarities of Scientific and Engineering notation provides a convenient


method to represent large and small numbers or quantities in a compact form
and to perform calculations involving such numbers. The ordinary practice of
using commas and leading zeroes proves to be very cumbersome in this
situation. Hence, both notations rewrite values into a form that is more
readable and manageable to easily understand in a more shorter and
standard way.

DIFFERENCES

In Scientific notation, powers of ten is use to represent quantities by


Expressing any number and performing calculations. Scientific notation
displays a number as a value between one and 10, but not including 10,
multiplied by a power of 10. A negative power indicates a number smaller
than one, whereas a positive power indicates a large number greater than 10.
Therefore, a quantity is expressed as a product of a number between 1 and
10 and a power of ten.

For example, the quantity 150,000 is expressed in scientific notation as 1.5 x


10^5 , and the quantity 0.00022 is expressed as 2.2 x 10^ -4 .

While, Engineering notation follows the metric system prefixes. Prefixes, like


tera-, giga-, mega- and kilo-, differ in size from the next highest or lowest
prefix by 10^3. Engineering notation converts a very large or very small
number into a value between one and 1,000 using powers of 10 in
increments of three. So the powers of 10 are only the values 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.
or -3, -6, -9, -12, etc. In this way, numbers are always stated in terms of
thousands, millions, billions, etc. Hence, Every time when ones see a
reference to some number of millions or billions or trillions, rather than a
complete enumeration of the entire number with all its digits, the writer is, in
effect, using engineering notation.

For instance, the number 34,284,000,000 is rewritten as 34.284 x 10^9. The


10^9 indicates the decimal will move to the right nine places.

For very small values, such as 0.0003, the value is rewritten as 300 x 10^-6.
The negative six indicates the decimal will move to the left six places.

2. In Engineering notation, what is "multiples of three"?

The exponent of the power of 10 in engineering notation must be a multiple of


3. A multiple of 3 is a number that results from multiplying 3 by a whole
number. Multiples of 3 are (positive) 3,6, 9 etc and (negative) _3, -6, -9 etc.
Moreover, engineering notation is a number that can have from one to three
digits to the left of the decimal point and the power-of-ten exponent must be a
multiple of three. Metric prefixes are used in conjunction with engineering
notation as a “short hand” for the certain powers of ten that are multiples of
three.

For example, the number 33,000 expressed in engineering notation is 33 x


10^3 .

A number written in engineering notation is written in the form:


A. × 10b Where: a is a number greater than 1 and less than 999
B. is an integer multiple of three

Examples:
71.24 × 10^3
4.32 × 10^-6
320.49× 10^9
123.452 × 10^−12

REFERENCES:
https://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/samplechapter/0/1/3/4/0134879481.
pdf
https://sciencing.com/e-5491586.html
https://www.purplemath.com/modules/exponent4.htm

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