The size of a hydrogen atom is about 1.2×10

Question

−10
m across. The size of an oxygen atom is 0.000000000152 m across. What is the difference between the sizes of these atoms in scientific notation? (1 point)

2.72×10
−10
m
3.2×10
−9
m
3.2×10
−10
m
3.2×10
−11
m

Answer 1

To find the difference between the sizes of a hydrogen atom and an oxygen atom, we first need to convert both measurements into scientific notation consistently and then perform the subtraction.

1. The size of the hydrogen atom is given as \( 1.2 \times 10^{-10} , \text{m} \).
2. The size of the oxygen atom is \( 0.000000000152 , \text{m} \). In scientific notation, this can be expressed as: \[ 0.000000000152 = 1.52 \times 10^{-10} , \text{m} \]

Now we can compute the difference: \[ \text{Size of hydrogen atom} - \text{Size of oxygen atom} \] \[ 1.2 \times 10^{-10} , \text{m} - 1.52 \times 10^{-10} , \text{m} \]

To perform this subtraction, we align the numbers: \[ (1.2 - 1.52) \times 10^{-10} = -0.32 \times 10^{-10} \]

To express \(-0.32 \times 10^{-10}\) in proper scientific notation, we can convert it to: \[ -3.2 \times 10^{-11} , \text{m} \]

However, since we only need the magnitude of the difference, we will represent it as \(3.2 \times 10^{-11} , \text{m}\).

Thus, the correct answer is: \[ \boxed{3.2 \times 10^{-11} , \text{m}} \]