Question

The diameter of a red blood cell is about 3×10⁻⁴ in. What is its diameter in centimeters? 3×10⁻⁴in:______cm

a) 7.62×10⁻⁴cm
b) 7.6×10⁻⁴cm
c) 7.62×10⁻⁴cm:7.73×10⁻⁴cm
d) 7.7×10⁻⁴cm

Answer 1

The diameter of a red blood cell is 7.62 × 10⁻⁶ cm after converting from ×10⁻⁴ inches, multiplying by the conversion factor of 2.54 cm per inch. The correct option is (c), which seems to be a typo in the exponent in the original choices.

Step-by-step explanation:

To convert the diameter of a red blood cell from inches to centimeters, we multiply by the conversion factor of 2.54 cm per inch. Starting with the given diameter of 3×10⁻⁴ inches, we have:

(3×10⁻⁴ in) × (2.54 cm/in)

The 'in' unit cancels out, leaving:

7.62 × 10⁻⁶ cm

Notice that the power of ten changes because we're converting a smaller unit (inches) to a larger one (centimeters), thus the diameter in centimeters is a smaller number in scientific notation. So, the diameter of a red blood cell in centimeters is.

• 
  
• 7.62 × 10⁻⁶ cm

Looking at the provided options, it appears there might have been a typo in the exponent for the choices given, as none of them match the correct calculation. The correct answer, based on the question's data, should use power of -6 because 10⁻⁴ inches equal 10⁻⁴ × 2.54×10⁻⁲ = 2.54×10⁻⁶ centimeters. Therefore, the correctly calculated answer is option (c) 7.62 × 10⁻⁶ cm.