The decimal is behind the last four naturally (262,144.0), so you have to move it to the left 5 spaces to get the number to a value under 10. The answer would be written like 2.62144 x 10^5 (with 5 being an exponent)
**Remember the exponent is positive if you start out with a whole number and negative if you start of with a decimal
since there is always a decimal at the end of every value so :
= 262144.0
you move the decimal backwards if there is no decimal between the value. you place the decimal after the 1st digit, you will also count the digits you have passed :
= 2.62144 X 10^5
you passed 5 values so you put 5 in exponent form.