A human hair has a diameter of about 4×10^−3

inches. A fingernail is about 0.011 inches thicker. How thick is a fingernail? Write your answer as a decimal to 3 places.

1 answer

To find the thickness of a fingernail, we start with the diameter of a human hair and then add the thickness of the fingernail.

The diameter of a human hair is given as: \[ 4 \times 10^{-3} \text{ inches} \]

The fingernail is about \(0.011\) inches thicker than the hair. To find the thickness of the fingernail, we simply add the thickness to the diameter of the hair:

\[ \text{Thickness of fingernail} = \text{Diameter of hair} + 0.011 \]

Substituting the values: \[ \text{Thickness of fingernail} = 4 \times 10^{-3} + 0.011 \]

Now, let's convert \(0.011\) into decimal form:

  • The decimal for \(0.011\) is easily manageable.

Converting \(4 \times 10^{-3}\) into decimal form: \[ 4 \times 10^{-3} = 0.004 \]

Now, we add these two values together: \[ 0.004 + 0.011 = 0.015 \]

Thus, the thickness of a fingernail, written as a decimal to three places, is: \[ \boxed{0.015} \]