Question

The approximate areas of Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. are listed below:
Rhode Island: 4 x 10^3 square kilometers
Washington, D.C: 1.77 x 10^2 square kilometers
How much larger is Rhode Island? Express your answer using scientific notation.

Answer 1

To find how much larger Rhode Island is compared to Washington, D.C., we need to subtract the area of Washington, D.C. from the area of Rhode Island.

Given:
- Area of Rhode Island = \( 4 \times 10^3 \) square kilometers
- Area of Washington, D.C. = \( 1.77 \times 10^2 \) square kilometers

First, we need to express both areas in the same power of 10 for ease of subtraction. We can express \( 1.77 \times 10^2 \) in terms of \( 10^3 \):

\[
1.77 \times 10^2 = 0.177 \times 10^3
\]

Now we can perform the subtraction:

\[
\text{Area of Rhode Island} - \text{Area of Washington, D.C.} = (4 \times 10^3) - (0.177 \times 10^3)
\]

Combining the coefficients:

\[
= (4 - 0.177) \times 10^3 = 3.823 \times 10^3
\]

Thus, the area of Rhode Island is approximately \( 3.823 \times 10^3 \) square kilometers larger than the area of Washington, D.C.

Therefore, the final answer is:

\[
\boxed{3.823 \times 10^3}
\]