Question

The length of a plant cell A is 8×10^-5 meter. The length of plant cell B is 0.000004 meter. How many times greater is plant cell A’s length than plant cell B’s length?

Answer 1

Plant cell A's length is 20 times greater than plant B's length

Explanation:

Comparing Small Numbers

When numbers are too small (or too big) to be expressed in decimal format, it's desirable to convert them to scientific notation, especially when reporting them in tables, graphs, or answers to problems.

In our case, two numbers are given and we are required to compare them. The first number is already in scientific notation:

`n1=8\cdot 10^(-5)`

The second number is in decimal format, converting to scientific:

`n2=4\cdot 10^(-6)`

Dividing both numbers:

`\displaystyle (8\cdot 10^(-5))/(4\cdot 10^(-6))`

Divide the coefficients and subtract the exponents:

`=2\cdot 10^1=20`

Plant cell A's length is 20 times greater than plant B's length