How to interpret scientific notation?

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I'm having a problem understanding scientific notation. What is the difference between the following:

$$\text{5e2, 5e-2, -5e2, -5e-2}$$

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2 Answers

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\begin{align} 5e2 & = 5\times 10^2 = 500 \\ 5e{-2} & = 5\times 10^{-2} = 0.05 \\ -5e2 & = -5\times 10^2 = -500 \\ -5e{-2} & = -5 \times 10^{-2} = -0.05 \end{align}

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This image should help hopefully.

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