Scientific notation is often used when numbers become very large (like in astronomy) or very small (like in physics or chemistry). In your future science courses, it will be taken for granted that you're able to use scientific notation. This material is covered on pages 191 through 196 in the Engaging Algebra textbook.
4.5 Scientific Notation
After working on this content you'll be able to operate on numbers that are written in scientific notation. Successfully completing the work on the exponent rules is necessary for scientific notation.