Question

What is meant by PREFIX giga, mega, kilo, hekto, milli, mikro? What is 1.2 * 10 ^ 6? 4 * 10 ^ -3?

Answer 1

Giga (G) = 1,000,000,000 → a billion
Mega (M) = 1,000,000 → a million
Kilo (k) = 1,000
Hekto (h) = 100
Milli (m) = 0.001 → one-thousandth
Mikro (µ) = 0.000001 → one-millionth

1.2 × 10⁶ = 1,200,000 (1.2 million)
4 × 10⁻³ = 0.004 (four thousandths)

Thanks to ChemSimplified.

Answer 2

A tip to remember prefixes:

Thanks to ChemSimplified

Answer 3

Exponents

 

Exponents can be used in the real world to make long calculation shorter. For example, in stead of always writing the whole multiplication of a square or cube, areas and volumes are given using exponents when talking about the size of an apartment or the size of a swimming pool or fuel tank of a car. Can you come up with other examples?

Look around in your room. Can you come up with repeated multiplication with items available to you?

 

Let’s learn the theory!

Credit: Math Antics, YouTube

 

Excercises:

 1. Is there a way to write these expressions in a shorter way?

• -7-7-7-7-7
• -9 x (-9)
• 3 x 3 x 4 x 4

 

2. Reduce the following using the square root.

• (2u)²
• (4a)²
• (10t)²

3. Mark the following in a shorter way using exponents.

• 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2
• (-3) x (-3) x (-3) x (-3) x (-3) x (-3) x
• b x b x b x b x b
• xxxxxxx
• y x y… …y x y (18 times y)