Question

An ant weighs about 2 * 10^-5 1b. There are about 1 * 10^15 ants on our planet. How much do all of the ants on Earth weigh? Express the answer in Scientific notation.

Answer 1

To answer this question, we have that:

An ant weighs about:

`2\cdot10^(-5)lb`

There are about:

`1\cdot10^(15)ants\text{ in our planet}`

Then we need to multiply both values as follows:

`2\cdot10^(-5)(lb)/(ant)\cdot1\cdot10^(15)ants`

Now, we can multiply both numbers as follows:

`2\cdot1\cdot(10^(-5)\cdot10^(15)_{})=2\cdot(10^{-5+15_{}})=2\cdot10^(10)`

The units can be managed as follows:

`(lb)/(ant)\cdot ant=lb`

In summary, therefore, we finally have that all of the ants on Earth weigh:

`2\cdot10^(10)lb`