Question

How do you simplify `\frac { 1.6\times 10^ { - 3} } { 2.18\times 10^ { - 3} }`?

Answer 1

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

First, rewrite the expression as:

`(1.6/2.18) xx (10^-3/10^-3) => 1.6/2.18 xx 1 => 0.7339` rounded to the nearest ten-thousandth.

If you want to write this in scientific notation we must move the decimal point 1 place to the right which means the exponent of the 10s term will be negative:

`0.7339 => 7.339 xx 10^-1`