QUESTION \( 5: \) P POINT Convert to scientific notation: 5,300 Provide your answer below: \( \square \times 10^{\wedge} \square \)

To convert 5,300 into scientific notation, you first need to express the number in a format where it’s between 1 and 10. For 5,300, this is 5.3. Then, determine how many places you need to move the decimal to get back to the original number. Since we move the decimal 3 places to the right, we use an exponent of \( 10^3 \). Therefore, the scientific notation for 5,300 is: \( 5.3 \times 10^{3} \) To make numbers easier to work with, scientists, engineers, and mathematicians often turn to scientific notation, providing a compact way to express large numbers without losing precision. For instance, instead of writing 5,300,000,000 (like the population of Earth estimate), you’d simply write 5.3 x \( 10^9 \). It makes calculations and comparisons way easier, while also looking super cool! Also, one common mistake when converting to scientific notation is forgetting the negative power for very small numbers. For example, 0.0053 should be converted to \( 5.3 \times 10^{-3} \) instead of just jumping straight to the positive exponent. Remember: it's all about where that decimal is!