Final answer:
The expression to represent the sum of 54 and 72 using the distributive property would simply be 54+72, as no distribution is needed. For the scientific notation, the numbers should be written with a decimal after the first non-zero digit and then multiplied by 10 raised to the power that will place the decimal correctly.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question seems to be improperly formatted, as it is mixing a question about the distributive property with the concept of scientific notation. However, to clarify the concepts separately:
Using the distributive property, the expression to represent the sum of 54 and 72 would be 54+72, which corresponds to option b). The distributive property would apply if we were to factor out a common factor from a sum or distribute a factor across a sum, neither of which is needed here to represent the straightforward sum of two numbers.
Proper Scientific Notation
To write the numbers in proper scientific notation:
72.44 × 10^3 is already in scientific notation, but typically it would be written as 7.244 × 10^4 if one were to place the decimal after the first non-zero digit.
9,943 × 10^-5 would be rewritten as 9.943 × 10^1 × 10^-5 = 9.943 × 10^-4.
588,399 × 10^2 should be 5.88399 × 10^5 × 10^2 = 5.88399 × 10^7.