Question

How do you write the answer in scientific notation given `(9.9times10^9)/(1.5times10^8)`?

Answer 1

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

First, rewrite this expression as:

`(9.9/1.5) xx (10^9/10^8) => 0.16 xx (10^9/10^8)`

Now, use this rule for exponents to divide the 10s terms:

`x^color(red)(a)/x^color(blue)(b) = x^(color(red)(a)-color(blue)(b))`

`0.16 xx (10^color(red)(9)/10^color(blue)(8)) = 0.16 xx 10^(color(red)(9)-color(blue)(8)) => 0.16 xx 10^1`

We now need to move the decimal point one place to the left so we need to subtract `1` from the 10s term:

`0.16 xx 10^1 => 1.6 xx 10^(1-1) => 1.6 xx 10^0`