When converting a number from scientific notation to standard form, which direction do you move the decimal point if the exponent is negative?

• A. To the right
• B. Upwards
• C. To the left
• D. Downwards

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that scientific notation expresses numbers as a product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10, written as \(a \times 10^{n}\), where \(n\) is the exponent.
2. Recognize that the exponent \(n\) indicates how many places to move the decimal point to convert the number to standard form.
3. If the exponent \(n\) is positive, move the decimal point to the right \(n\) times to get the standard form.
4. If the exponent \(n\) is negative, move the decimal point to the left \(|n|\) times to convert the number to standard form.
5. Therefore, when the exponent is negative, the decimal point moves to the left, making the number smaller than 1.