Question

Priscilla has 4.3*10^8 strands of hair on her head. Diego has 8.7*10^5 strands of hair on his head. How many more strands of hair does Priscilla have than Diego? Express your answer in scientific notation.

Answer 1

Answer: 4.2913 * 10^8

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Work Shown:

4.3*10^8 = 4.3 * 10^(3+5)

4.3*10^8 = 4.3 * 10^3*10^5

4.3*10^8 = 4.3*1000*10^5

4.3*10^8 = 4300*10^5

Priscilla has 4300*10^5 strands of hair while Diego has 8.7 * 10^5 strands. Subtract the values out front: 4300-8.7 = 4291.3

Then tack on the "*10^5" portion to get 4291.3*10^5

The difference in the number of strands is 4291.3*10^5

Convert this to scientific notation to get the final answer.

4291.3*10^5 = (4291.3)*10^5

4291.3*10^5 = (4.2913 * 1000)*10^5

4291.3*10^5 = 4.2913 * 1000*10^5

4291.3*10^5 = 4.2913 * 10^3*10^5

4291.3*10^5 = 4.2913 * 10^(3+5)

4291.3*10^5 = 4.2913 * 10^8

Note: The number 4.2913 * 10^8 expands out to 429,130,000 which is a little over 429 million.