Question

Determining the Divisor

Kyle divided two numbers in scientific notation using the interactive calculator and found a solution of 3.5E4. If the numerator was 7.0 × 109, what was the denominator?

(7.0 × 109)n = 3.5E4

The denominator is a × 10b, where:

a = 2.03.57.024.75

b = –55–1313

Answer 1

We have n = (7.0×10^9) / (3.5×10^4) = (7.0/3.5)×10^(9−4) = 2.0×10^5.

So a = 2.0 and b = 5 (denominator = 2.0×10^5).