Powers of Ten-Can You Interpret Them?

A power of ten is a number expressed as ten raised to an exponent, indicating how many times to multiply ten by itself. For example, $$10^3 = 10 \times 10 \times 10 = 1000$$ .

$$10^0 = 1$$ . Any non-zero number raised to the power of zero equals one.

To compare two powers of ten, look at the exponent. The one with the larger exponent is greater. For example, $$10^6$$ is greater than $$10^5$$ .

$$99 \times 10^6 = 99,000,000$$ .

$$1,110 \times 10^5 = 111,000,000$$ .

$$46 \times 10^5 = 4,600,000$$ .

$$322 \times 10^2 = 32,200$$ .

$$b = 10^5$$ is greater than $$a = 10^3$$ because 5 > 3.

$$10^4 = 10,000$$ .

Multiplying by $$10^n$$ shifts the decimal point n places to the right.