Roughly, it takes light less than 0.000000003 of a second to travel a one-meter distance. Express this number in the form of a × 10^n where 1 < a < 10 and is a one-digit number.(1 point)

Question

Responses

3 × 108
3 times 10 superscript 8 baseline

3 × 10−9
3 times 10 superscript negative 9 baseline

3 × 10−8
3 times 10 superscript negative 8 baseline

3 × 109
3 times 10 superscript 9 baseline

Answer 1

To express the number \(0.000000003\) in the form \(a \times 10^n\) where \(1 < a < 10\), we can rewrite it as follows:

1. The number \(0.000000003\) can be written as \(3\) (the significant digits) multiplied by \(10^{-9}\) (since moving the decimal point 9 places to the right takes us back to the original number).

Thus, we have: \[ 0.000000003 = 3 \times 10^{-9} \]

Therefore, the correct choice is: 3 × 10^−9