[Megan]

I have this conversion 1.0 liter to milliliters and I thought the answer was 1000ml but the back of the book said they wanted 1.0 x 10^3ml. Is that the same thing or did I do it wrong. If it is the same thing then what does 10^3 mean. Is it going down? Why is it not -3? I have e-mail my teach for 3 days with no responce. Thank you for your help.

[enahs]

Yes those are the same thing, you are correct.

1.0 liter = 1000mL as you said.
1.0 x 10³ = 1.0 x (10*10*10) = 1.0 * 1000 = 1000
This is called scientific notation.
http://members.aol.com/profchm/sci_not.html
http://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/textbook/scinot.html

It might seem pointless right now, but once you cover significant figure it will make more sense.

If you have covered sig figs, think about the answer with respect to that and see if it makes sense, if it does not just ask for clarification.

[Megan]

OK I get the exponent and why the number is 3. What I do not get is why is it not negative? It is going down right? Those sites are helpful. I just need more clarification.

[Ψ×Ψ]

A liter is 1000 mL, right?  And 1000 = 10³.  Perhaps you're confusing it with 1 mL = 10^-3 L? 

[enahs]

# x 10³ = # x 1000
# x 10^-3 = #/1000 = # x 0.001