What is the scientific notation representation of 86,400?

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To express the number 86,400 in scientific notation, the goal is to write it in the form of a number between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of ten.

Starting with 86,400, we can shift the decimal point to the left until we have a number that falls between 1 and 10. If we move the decimal point two places to the left, we transform 86,400 into 8.64. Each time we move the decimal point to the left, we increase the exponent of ten by one. Since the decimal point was moved four places to convert 86,400 to 8.64, we express this shift mathematically as multiplying by 10 to the power of 4.

Hence, the scientific notation representation of 86,400 is 8.64 × 10⁴. This accurately captures the size of the original number in a more manageable form while adhering to the conventions of scientific notation.