The average newborn weighs 7.5 pounds. About 4.1×106

babies are born in the United States every year. What is the approximate total weight in pounds of all the babies born in the U.S. in a year? Write the answer in scientific notation, expressed to the exact decimal place.

1 answer

To find the total weight of all the babies born in the U.S. in a year, we can multiply the average weight of a newborn by the number of babies born.

Given:

  • Average weight of a newborn = 7.5 pounds
  • Number of babies born = \( 4.1 \times 10^6 \)

Now, we can calculate the total weight:

\[ \text{Total Weight} = \text{Average Weight} \times \text{Number of Babies} \] \[ \text{Total Weight} = 7.5 , \text{pounds} \times 4.1 \times 10^6 \]

Calculating this:

\[ \text{Total Weight} = 30.75 \times 10^6 , \text{pounds} \]

Now we convert this to scientific notation.

\[ 30.75 = 3.075 \times 10^1 \]

So,

\[ 30.75 \times 10^6 = 3.075 \times 10^1 \times 10^6 = 3.075 \times 10^{7} \]

Thus, the approximate total weight of all the babies born in the U.S. in a year is:

\[ \boxed{3.075 \times 10^{7}} , \text{pounds} \]