Question

The size of a cell is typically found by capturing an image under a microscope then using software to measure its diameter. Two cells are measured using this method:
Cell G: 1, point, 1, 5, times, 10, to the power minus 31.15×10
−3
centimeters
Cell H: 5, point, 3, times, 10, to the power minus 45.3×10
−4
centimeters
How much larger is the diameter of cell G than the diameter of cell H? Express your answer using either standard notation or scientific notation.

Answer 1

The numbers as written are ambiguous. A likely (and physically reasonable) interpretation is that the measurements were

- Cell G = 1.15 × 10^−3 cm
- Cell H = 5.3 × 10^−4 cm

If so, the difference (how much larger G is than H) is
1.15×10^−3 − 5.3×10^−4 = 0.00115 − 0.00053 = 0.00062 cm = 6.2 × 10^−4 cm.

(If you meant "how many times larger", G/H ≈ 1.15×10^−3 / 5.3×10^−4 ≈ 2.17, so G is about 2.17 times as large.)

If your original numbers were different, please paste them exactly (or a screenshot) and I’ll recompute.