A human hair has a diameter of about inches.

A fingernail is about 0.011 inches thicker. How thick is a
fingernail? Write your answer as a decimal to 3 places.
(1 point)
4 × 10
−3

1 answer

A typical human hair has a diameter of about 0.001 inches.

If a fingernail is about 0.011 inches thicker than a human hair, you can add that thickness to the diameter of the hair:

\[ \text{Thickness of fingernail} = \text{Thickness of human hair} + 0.011 \text{ inches} \]

Substituting the values:

\[ \text{Thickness of fingernail} = 0.001 \text{ inches} + 0.011 \text{ inches} = 0.012 \text{ inches} \]

Now converting that to a decimal with three places:

\[ 0.012 \text{ inches} \]

The scientific notation for 0.012 inches is \(1.2 \times 10^{-2}\) inches.

Thus, the thickness of a fingernail expressed as a decimal to three places is:

\[ \boxed{0.012} \]