Question

In 2010, approximately 4.6×107
tons of paper were recycled. In the same year, an estimated 2,600,000 tons of plastics were recycled. How many more tons of paper was recycled than plastic in 2010?(1 point)
Responses

434×107
434 times 10 superscript 7 baseline

7.20×107
7.20 times 10 superscript 7 baseline

4.34×107
4.34 times 10 superscript 7 baseline

4.34×102
4.34 times 10 squared

Answer 1

To find out how many more tons of paper were recycled than plastic in 2010, we can start by converting the amounts into the same format:

- Tons of paper recycled: \(4.6 \times 10^7\)
- Tons of plastic recycled: \(2,600,000\) which can be expressed in scientific notation as \(2.6 \times 10^6\).

Now we can perform the subtraction:

1. Convert \(2.6 \times 10^6\) to have the same exponent as \(4.6 \times 10^7\):
- \(2.6 \times 10^6 = 0.26 \times 10^7\)

2. Now subtract:
- \(4.6 \times 10^7 - 0.26 \times 10^7 = (4.6 - 0.26) \times 10^7\)
- \(4.6 - 0.26 = 4.34\)

So, the difference is:
\[
4.34 \times 10^7
\]

The answer is **4.34×10^7** (option 3).