Question

The distance between Earth and the Moon is about 384,400 kilometers. The distance can be written in scientific notation as a × 10b kilometers, where a = and b = .

Answer 1

3.844× 10^5 kilometers

therefore, a=3.844
and b=5

Answer 2

`3.844 \cdot 10^5 km`, where a = 3.844 and b=5.

Step-by-step explanation:

A number can be written in scientific notation as follows:

`a \cdot 10^b`

where it means that the number 'a' is multiplied by 10 to the power b.

Practically speaking, it means that in order to write a number in scientific notation, we must move the dot to the left by 'b' positions. In this problem, we have the following number:

384400 km

Therefore, we have to move the dot to the left by 5 position, so we get:

`3.84400 \cdot 10^5 km`

and we can get rid of the '00' since they are meaningless:

`3.844 \cdot 10^5 km`