A certain insect is approximately 4×10−2 inches long. A second insect is about 1.3×10−1 inches long. What is the total length of the two insects in inches? Use scientific notation to express your answer to 1 decimal place.

Answer 1

To add the lengths of the two insects, we can simply add their lengths at the same powers of 10.

The first insect has a length of $4\times10^{-2}$ inches.
The second insect has a length of $1.3\times10^{-1}$ inches.

Adding these lengths, we get $4\times10^{-2}+1.3\times10^{-1}=(4+13)\times10^{-2}=17\times10^{-2}$ inches.

To express this answer in scientific notation with 1 decimal place, we have $17\times10^{-2}=1.7\times10^0$ inches.

Thus, the total length of the two insects is $1.7\times10^0$ inches.