5x10 to the 3 power-8.9x10 to the 4

1 answer

To simplify the expression \( 5 \times 10^3 - 8.9 \times 10^4 \), we need to express both terms with the same power of ten.

  1. Convert \( 5 \times 10^3 \) to have the same power of ten as \( 8.9 \times 10^4 \).

    We can express \( 5 \times 10^3 \) as:

    \[ 5 \times 10^3 = 0.5 \times 10^4 \]

  2. Now, our expression becomes:

    \[ 0.5 \times 10^4 - 8.9 \times 10^4 \]

  3. Combine the two terms:

    \[ (0.5 - 8.9) \times 10^4 = -8.4 \times 10^4 \]

So, the final result is:

\[ -8.4 \times 10^4 \]