A gallon of water weighs about 8.3 pounds. An Olympic-sized swimming pool holds 6.6×10^5 gallons. What is the approximate weight of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Write the answer in scientific notation.

A. 54.78×10^6 pounds
B. 5.478×10^5 pounds
C. 54.78×10^5 pounds
D. 5.478×10^6 pounds

1 answer

To find the weight of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool, we can use the following information:

  • The weight of one gallon of water is approximately 8.3 pounds.
  • An Olympic-sized swimming pool holds about \( 6.6 \times 10^5 \) gallons.

Now, we can calculate the total weight of the water in the swimming pool:

\[ \text{Weight of water} = \text{Number of gallons} \times \text{Weight per gallon} \]

Substituting the values:

\[ \text{Weight of water} = (6.6 \times 10^5 \text{ gallons}) \times (8.3 \text{ pounds/gallon}) \]

Calculating this:

\[ \text{Weight of water} = 6.6 \times 8.3 \times 10^5 \]

First, calculate \( 6.6 \times 8.3 \):

\[ 6.6 \times 8.3 = 54.78 \]

Now, including the power of 10:

\[ \text{Weight of water} = 54.78 \times 10^5 \text{ pounds} \]

To write this in proper scientific notation, we can express \( 54.78 \) as \( 5.478 \times 10^1 \) so:

\[ 54.78 \times 10^5 = 5.478 \times 10^1 \times 10^5 = 5.478 \times 10^{6} \]

Thus, the approximate weight of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool is:

\[ \text{Weight of water} \approx 5.478 \times 10^6 \text{ pounds} \]

The correct answer is:

D. 5.478×10^6 pounds