What is 7.1 x 10 to the power of - 5 as an ordinary number

You move the decimal to the left 5 times and then it becomes. 000071. The reason why you move it to the left is because since the power is negative, you are trying to make the number smaller. If the power were positive, you would move it to the right to make the number greater.

7.1 x 10^-5

=7.1 x 0.000071 (five zeroes as its to the power of - 5)

=0.00005041