To find out how many grains of rice are equivalent to the average mass of a strand of hair, we can simply divide the mass of the strand of hair by the mass of a grain of rice.
Given:
- Average mass of a strand of hair = \(2.7 \times 10^{-5}\) ounces
- Average mass of a grain of rice = \(0.002\) ounces
Now, we can calculate the number of grains of rice in a strand of hair:
\[ \text{Number of grains of rice} = \frac{\text{Mass of hair}}{\text{Mass of grain of rice}} = \frac{2.7 \times 10^{-5}}{0.002} \]
Calculating that:
\[ = \frac{2.7 \times 10^{-5}}{2 \times 10^{-3}} = 2.7 \times 10^{-5} \div 2 \times 10^{-3} = (2.7 \div 2) \times (10^{-5} \div 10^{-3}) = 1.35 \times 10^{-2} \]
To express this result in significant figures, we observe that \(1.35\) has three significant figures. Therefore, the final answer, expressed in scientific notation, is:
\[ 1.35 \times 10^{-2} \]
This means that there are approximately \(0.0135\) grains of rice in a strand of hair. If you need the answer in terms of grains, this value indicates fractional grains, so you could note it's less than one grain of rice per strand.
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