Scientific Notation in Any Base

written by Teresa Carrigan


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HOW TO USE IT

If you want examples from a specific base: Use the base slider to set the base. Now press the setup button. This will generate a random number in that base.

If you do not care which base is used, click the random button to generate an arbitrary base and number.

The slow-motion slider is an easy way to adjust the speed of the display. Set it to zero if you want to show the final result as quickly as possible. 0.5 is a good setting for most purposes.

The step button demonstrates the next step in converting to scientific notation, and then stops so you can take notes. This is useful when you are first learning the method.

The go button does each remaining step, at a speed determined by the slow-motion slider. This is useful when you do not need to take notes between each step.

The show-again button starts the exact problem from the beginning. You may then click either the step button or the go button to see the same demonstration.


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Applets on this website were written by Teresa Carrigan in 2004, for use in computer science courses at Blackburn College, with the exception of the Fireworks applet. The applets made with NetLogo require Java 1.4.1 or higher to run. The applets made with NetBeans require Java 1.4.2 or higher to run. Applets might not run on Windows 95 or Mac OS 8 or 9. You may obtain the latest Java plugin from Sun's Java site.