Final answer:
The operating empty weight (OEW) is the actual weight of an aircraft before loading for dispatch. Scientific notation is a way to express weights such as the maximum takeoff weight of an aircraft or the mass of a mosquito.
Step-by-step explanation:
The actual weight of the aircraft before loading for dispatch is called the operating empty weight (OEW). This is the weight of the aircraft with all of its equipment, including the airframe, engines, and all permanently installed equipment. It also includes the weight of the crew, but excludes payload and usable fuel weight. When we talk about aircraft weight, we can represent these numbers in different ways, often using decimal form or scientific notation. Scientific notation is particularly useful for expressing very large or small numbers, such as the weight of an aircraft or a mosquito.
For example, the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of a Boeing 777-200ER airliner is 298,000 kilograms, which can be written in scientific notation as 2.98 × 105 kg. In contrast, the mass of the average mosquito is a much smaller figure, approximately 0.0000025 kilograms, or 2.5 × 10-6 kg in scientific notation.