Use scientific notation to determine which of these numbers has the least value: 123,893, 31,892, or 12,786. Write your answer in scientific notation, expressed to the exact decimal place.

Answer 1

To compare the values, we need to write the numbers in scientific notation.

123,893 can be written as 1.23893 × 10^5
31,892 can be written as 3.1892 × 10^4
12,786 can be written as 1.2786 × 10^4

Comparing these numbers, we can see that 3.1892 × 10^4 is the smallest in value.