Final answer:
The smallest power of 10 that exceeds 65,902 is 10 to the fifth power (10^5), which equals 100,000. Therefore, the correct answer is Option 2: 10^5.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks what is the smallest power of 10 that would exceed the number 65,902. To find the smallest power of 10 greater than a given number, we need to determine how many times we would multiply 10 by itself to exceed that number. The terms scientific notation and powers of 10 are relevant here. For 65,902, moving the decimal point to the left until we have a number between 1 and 10 will tell us the power of 10 needed in exponential form. (For example, 1,230,000,000 is written as 1.23 x 10¹, where the exponent 9 indicates the decimal has moved 9 places.)
In this case, we would move the decimal 5 places to the left for 65,902 to become 6.5902, which can be written in scientific notation as 6.5902 x 10 to the power of 5. Therefore, the smallest power of 10 that exceeds 65,902 is 10⁵ (ten to the fifth power), which is 100,000, making Option 2: 10⁵ the correct choice.