Question

Pluto is 5,560,000,000 years old. Estimate the age of Pluto by writing it in the form of x * 10^y years, where x and y are single-digit numbers.

a) 6 * 10^9
b) 6 * 10^8
c) 5 * 10^9
d) 5 * 10^8

Answer 1

To estimate the age of Pluto given as 5,560,000,000 years in the form of x * 10^y, we round it to the closest single-digit number times a power of ten, which is 6 * 10^9 years.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student asked to estimate the age of Pluto by writing it in the form of x * 10^y years, where x and y are single-digit numbers. Given the age of Pluto as 5,560,000,000 years, we can round this number for estimation purposes to the nearest single-digit number times a power of ten.

We can approximate 5,560,000,000 as 6 * 10^9 because 5,560,000,000 is closer to 6,000,000,000 than to 5,000,000,000 when considering significant figures for estimation. So, the correct answer is a) 6 * 10^9 years.