This document discusses scientific notation for writing very large and very small numbers. It explains that scientific notation expresses a number as the product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10. The power of 10 is the exponent that indicates how far the decimal place is moved. Examples are provided of writing numbers in scientific and decimal notation. Rules are given for the format of a number in scientific notation. The document also discusses using negative exponents to write very small numbers in scientific notation. Exercises are provided to practice converting between scientific and decimal notation.