1. Move the decimal point to the right until you have a number between 1 and 10. In this case, we move it two places to the right: 1.73

2. Count the number of places you moved the decimal point. Since we moved it two places to the right, the exponent will be -2.

3. Write the number in the form a x 10^b where 'a' is the number between 1 and 10, and 'b' is the exponent.

Therefore, 0.0173 in scientific notation is 1.73 x 10^-2.