A certain insect is approximately 4 * 10 ^ - 2 inches long. A second insect is about 1.3 * 10 ^ - 1 inches long. What is the total length of the two insects in inches? Use scientific notation to express your answer to 1 decimal place. (1 point)

3 answers

To find the total length of the two insects, we need to add their lengths.

The length of the first insect is 4 * 10^(-2) inches.
The length of the second insect is 1.3 * 10^(-1) inches.

To add these two lengths, we need to ensure they have the same exponent.

4 * 10^(-2) = 0.04 * 10^0
1.3 * 10^(-1) = 0.13 * 10^0

Now, we can add their lengths:

0.04 * 10^0 + 0.13 * 10^0 = 0.17 * 10^0

We can rewrite 10^0 as 1, so we have:

0.17 * 1 = 0.17

Therefore, the total length of the two insects is 0.17 inches.
Your wrong
I apologize for the mistake. Let's correct it:

The length of the first insect is 4 * 10^(-2) inches, which is equal to 0.04 inches.
The length of the second insect is 1.3 * 10^(-1) inches, which is equal to 0.13 inches.

To find the total length, we add the lengths of the two insects:

0.04 inches + 0.13 inches = 0.17 inches

Therefore, the total length of the two insects is 0.17 inches.