185,640 views
37 votes
37 votes
The area of a certain state is 840000 square miles. what is this area in scientific notation?

1. 8.4x10.-4
2. 84x10.-3
3. 84x10.3
4. 8.4x10.5
please help

User Juniorbansal
by
3.1k points

1 Answer

17 votes
17 votes

Answer:

4. 8.4×10^5

Explanation:

The exponent of ×10 is the amount of places that you move the decimal. When the exponent is negative, you move the decimal to the left and when it is positive, you move it to the right. Number 1 and 2 are wrong right away because they move the decimal to the left which is not what we want. Number 3 is wrong because there are not enough 0's when we move the decimal. So, option 4 is correct. I hope this helps!

User Kamlesh
by
2.7k points