Writing big numbers can take a lot of space.

If you write a 1 followed by 3 zeros,
you get 1,000 = one thousand.

If you write a 1 followed by 6 zeros,
you get 1,000,000 = one million.

If you write a 1 followed by 9 zeros,
you get one billion!

It's your turn.
Try writing out one billion in the box below:

Takes time, right? And astronomers often deal with even larger numbers such as a trillion (12 zeros) and a quadrillion (15 zeros). So, when astronomers write numbers with lots of zeros, they use a shorthand called scientific notation. Instead of writing out a 1 followed by 9 zeros, they write a billion like this: 10⁹.

It's your turn to use scientific notation.

How would you write a trillion:
10¹³ 10¹⁶ 10¹²

Write a quadrillion here:
10¹⁵ 10¹⁸ 10¹⁴