Question

Julian and Lana were working on determining the sum for the following problem: (4.01 × 105) + (9.59 × 107). Julian said the first step is to rewrite 4.01 × 105 as 0.0401 × 107. Lana said the first step is to rewrite 9.59 × 107 as 959 × 105. Which person is correct? Why?

a) Julian is correct because both numbers will have the same power of 10.
b) Lana is correct because both numbers will have the same power of 10.
c) Both are correct because the goal is to get both numbers to have the same power of 10.
d) Neither student is correct. The first step is to add the coefficients.

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure d) neither.

Explanation:

(4.01 • 105) + (9.59 • 107)

= 421.05 + (9.59 • 107)

= 421.05 + 1026.13

= 1447.18