Did you know that kilogram is a scientific term that means 1,000 grams? Did you know that there is more than one way to express very large numbers? In science we use scientific notation to express numbers and we use orders of magnitude to get a general sense of how much larger something is when compared to something else. Orders of magnitude refer to the powers of ten of a number that is in scientific notation. If an object is one order of magnitude larger than another object; then that means it is 10 times larger or 10 to the 1 power larger. If it is two orders of magnitude larger than the other object; then that object is 100 times larger or 10 to the 2 powers larger. It is important to understand different notations numbers can be written in science (standard notation, scientific notation, or e notation). These various notations will continually come up in physics and in our future discussions. If I tell you that a planet is three orders of magnitude more massive than another object; I am telling you that the planet is 1,000 times more massive, which is an immense difference. Please feel free to leave comments and questions that you would like for us to address in our next podcast! Remember, we must address this basic concepts in order to have a strong foundation and more easily comprehend larger popular science topics that we will delve into in our future podcasts.
Enchanted Learning (Mentioned in Podcast)
Wikipedia - Orders of Magnitude (A quick Reference to Clarify some things)
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