In a given year, about 1.52 x 10^10 pieces of first-class mail are delivered in the U.S. If each piece of mail carries a stamp costing $0.55, what is the total cost in dollars to deliver all the pieces? Write the answer in scientific notation, expressed to the exact decimal place.

Answer 1

To find the total cost to deliver all the pieces of mail, we need to multiply the number of pieces by the cost of a stamp:

1.52 x 10^10 * $0.55.

To multiply these numbers, we multiply the decimal parts and add the exponents:

1.52 * 0.55 x 10^10 = 0.836 x 10^10.

Multiplying the decimal part gives 0.836.

Therefore, the total cost to deliver all the pieces of mail is $0.836 x 10^10.