Calculate 4.8 x 10^-3 - 9.4 x 10^-6 express the answer in scientific notation

1 answer

To calculate \( 4.8 \times 10^{-3} - 9.4 \times 10^{-6} \), we need to express both numbers with the same exponent.

First, let's express \( 4.8 \times 10^{-3} \) with an exponent of \( 10^{-6} \):

\[ 4.8 \times 10^{-3} = 4.8 \times 10^{-3} \times \frac{10^3}{10^3} = 4.8 \times \frac{10^{0}}{10^{-3}} = 4.8 \times 1000 \times 10^{-6} = 4800 \times 10^{-6} \]

Now we have:

\[ 4800 \times 10^{-6} - 9.4 \times 10^{-6} \]

We can now subtract these two terms:

\[ (4800 - 9.4) \times 10^{-6} = 4790.6 \times 10^{-6} \]

Next, we convert \( 4790.6 \) into scientific notation:

\[ 4790.6 = 4.7906 \times 10^{3} \]

So, combining the exponents:

\[ 4790.6 \times 10^{-6} = 4.7906 \times 10^{3} \times 10^{-6} = 4.7906 \times 10^{-3} \]

Thus, the final answer in scientific notation is:

\[ \boxed{4.7906 \times 10^{-3}} \]